Article March 25, 2019 Issue

Tired of lies?

Blythe Evans

It seems there are a lot of lies around these days. Blatant dishonesties, yes, but also subtle deceptions and misrepresentations. These falsehoods come in the form of manipulative advertisements, political vitriol, exaggerated news headlines, emotionally charged social media posts, and much more. Of course, there are many sincere statements of truth being made each day as well, but I often can’t help wondering whether something I hear or read is true or not. The thought comes, “Am I being manipulated?”

Full disclosure: I can be a bit of a news junkie. Knowing what is going on in the government, the environment, education, global affairs, etc., is of interest to me. Nothing wrong with being informed. But I know it is not useful to get ensnared in the drama that often comes with misinformation. Getting pulled down into the weeds doesn’t help anything or anybody.

As I was contemplating this dilemma recently, realizing I needed to heal both my time-absorbing preoccupation with current events and a persistent anxiety about falsehoods, it hit me—the ultimate liar and the ultimate lie are what is called in Christian Science mortal mind, explained in the Glossary of the Christian Science textbook, in part, as “the opposite of Spirit, and therefore the opposite of God, or good” (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 591–592). This is the big lie, the original lie, that must be recognized, rooted out, and destroyed. All other lies are just variations on the misconception that there is more than one God, that there is an opposite to divine Mind, the source of all good. By extension, mortal mind asserts that man is mortal and, therefore, subject to thinking up and acting out all sorts of negative scenarios.

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