Sitting idly on the warming porch yesterday, something seemed to just fall into place:
The stories that I love and love to drown in are all lies. Life laughs and corrects every period and conclusion that smooths vistas where I live. The laughter is not mean-spirited. It does not give the finger to the rules that stories confect. It just laughs a bit even as I bask in one lie or another.
What came before the cowboy and his gal rode off into the sunset? And after?
But the source of those lies is no lie. Can I prove this or posit it as some sort of over-arching rule or explanation or period on the sentence? Certainly not. It is just the truth I cannot tell, nor would if I could. The lies are wondrous and soothing and false and I love them. At every turn, some cowlick of a chuckle pops up and refuses to be stilled.
Lord, what a lot of magic. Bless the lies and the truth from which they sprang. May I learn not to lie too much about the truth. And not ignore it either.
Skip the "middle ground."
It is time to rest.
The stories that I love and love to drown in are all lies. Life laughs and corrects every period and conclusion that smooths vistas where I live. The laughter is not mean-spirited. It does not give the finger to the rules that stories confect. It just laughs a bit even as I bask in one lie or another.
What came before the cowboy and his gal rode off into the sunset? And after?
But the source of those lies is no lie. Can I prove this or posit it as some sort of over-arching rule or explanation or period on the sentence? Certainly not. It is just the truth I cannot tell, nor would if I could. The lies are wondrous and soothing and false and I love them. At every turn, some cowlick of a chuckle pops up and refuses to be stilled.
Lord, what a lot of magic. Bless the lies and the truth from which they sprang. May I learn not to lie too much about the truth. And not ignore it either.
Skip the "middle ground."
It is time to rest.
“The stories that I love and love to drown in are all lies.“
ReplyDeleteThat’s a pretty sad point of view, if true. Unless you just like fiction.
We should be careful when we speak about stories. A factual recounting is called a “story.” A fictional accounting is also called a “story.”
One possible alternative POV would be like this tag line from the 60’s TV show “Dragnet:”
“Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent."
Now most likely even the action didn’t happen the way it occurred in reality, not the way it was recounted in the police filed. That doesn’t mean the TV story is a lie. It’s an dramatized account.
“The stories that I love and love to drown in are all lies.“
ReplyDeleteThat’s a pretty sad point of view, if true. Unless you just like fiction."
Andy -- Sad??? I think not. As Thaddeus Golas once observed in "The Lazy Man's Guide to Englightenment," "When you have learned to love hell, you will be in heaven."
Or maybe that doesn't bang you chimes as it bangs mine. :)