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.

I could see that the foundation of all untruths, indeed of all human misery, is that one primal lie saying there is a reality other than Spirit, God, and Spirit’s creation, i.e., spiritual man, the real identity of everyone. It doesn’t so much matter what else we call true or false if we are—from the outset—taken in and manipulated by the underlying belief that existence is material. 

The first chapter of Genesis reports the truth, identifying man as spiritual, fashioned in the image and likeness of his creator, Spirit, whereas a false hypothesis of man as material and changeable appears in an allegorical account in the second chapter of Genesis. In that account, a serpent—a word defined, in part, in the Glossary of Science and Health as “a lie” (p. 594)—is portrayed as insinuating that there is a power other than God, and that mortality is a fact of life. The serpent-lie suggested to Eve that it was OK, even advantageous, to disobey God and look for happiness on material terms. Eve didn’t know to push back and reject this blatantly false assertion. Neither did Adam. 

I could see that the foundation of all human misery is the lie saying there is a reality other than Spirit, God.

The New Testament sheds fresh light on this subject. Christ Jesus knew what to do when faced with a lie claiming to challenge God’s supremacy. He was so conscious of, and loyal to, his identity as God’s Son, that he was alert to false premises, and put them down immediately. When, early in his ministry, the devil—also defined, in part, in the Glossary of Science and Health as “a lie” (p. 584)—tempted him to believe there was a better support system than God, Jesus was swift to refute this distortion with strong passages of Scripture, such as, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10). Jesus’ apprehension of the truth and his loyalty to the one God silenced the lie—and it left him.

However, later in his ministry, Jesus often encountered resistance to God, Truth. His message that God was the one Father, that the Son of God, the Christ, could free man from any ill or human woe, was met with hatred and contempt. Jesus called out this lie with spiritual defiance. One time he spoke authoritatively with these words: “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:44). Jesus modeled the necessity of immediately denouncing and rejecting a lie, and we can follow his example. 

Our defense against lies and the pain they would bring begins with affirming the spiritual fact that God, good, is All-in-all. Because God is Truth, lies have no origin, no power, no presence, and no future. We can be certain that “Truth creates neither a lie, a capacity to lie, nor a liar” (Science and Health, p. 357). Truth, filling all space, is always present and has all the power needed to detect and disprove lies of any kind. When a fact-check on lies is needed, we can do a spiritual fact-check.

As I prayed with these ideas, I grew stronger in my resolve to defend myself from current event distractions proposing that God’s man (every man, woman, and child) could be dishonest, unloved, or afraid. I was also alert to the broader lie that reality has a basis in matter, and that man is susceptible to malaise of any sort: physical, emotional, financial, social, political, etc. Destroying mortal mind’s lies about God and man with the truth of divine Science was what really mattered. I saw that I have the ability to detect mortal mind’s fabrications and refuse to believe them or be taken in by their inaccuracies. Divine Truth is always present in consciousness, revealing “Immanuel, ‘God with us,’—the sovereign ever-presence, delivering the children of men from every ill ‘that flesh is heir to’ ” (Science and Health, p. 107).

Because God is Truth, lies have no origin, no power, no presence, and no future.

We can help to bring peace and healing to the world by acknowledging that no one is at the beck and call of mortal mind, the big liar. We can affirm, instead, that man reflects Spirit, divine Truth, and therefore, his true nature is made up of spiritual qualities only; he is the highest idea of divine Mind, created, maintained, and cherished by God.

A few months ago, a friend called me and said he felt distraught because of what he perceived were lies and deceptions in government. “What can be done?” he asked.

Together we started to pray. We affirmed that God, Truth, is All, the only reality, the only cause and effect, the only origin and outcome, the only fact of existence. We pushed back on the original lie that man is material, susceptible to communicating, believing, or experiencing untruths. We asserted that the truth about God and man cannot be marginalized, manipulated, hidden, or overruled. We gave gratitude that as children of God, we could recognize in ourselves and others the spiritual qualities inherent in the character of God’s sons and daughters. 

After we got off the phone, we each held steadfastly to these spiritual facts and refused to be dragged down into doubt or despair. This prayer continued until, gradually, my friend felt lifted above the darkness he had been feeling and reported that he had a more spiritual, healing perspective, and was healed of angst about the news. It had been proven that Truth is triumphant and that error’s lies must yield to specific spiritual truths.

I am still interested in the news, but now when I am tempted to become anxious and annoyed at what I perceive may be untruths, I am more alert to refute the underlying lie that creation is material and man is mortal. Instead, I remind myself that God, Truth, alone is real and active in human consciousness. Spirit is the only force, operating now and always to reveal the healing and saving power of God. 

If you’re also tired of lies, you have the opportunity and the power to recognize and reverse the lies of mortal belief with the sovereign truth that God, Spirit, is the only real cause. God is supreme, and man, God’s effect, is subject only to divine Truth. “The age seems ready to approach this subject, to ponder somewhat the supremacy of Spirit, and at least to touch the hem of Truth’s garment” (Science and Health, p. 170).