As a child I found lying to be safer than the truth at times. I was raised in an Orthodox religion and fear of punishment frequently meant hiding what had happened, or straight out lying. If you get caught, you get in trouble. If you lie about it and hide, you’re in the clear, or so I thought. It never felt good to obscure the truth, but the fear of being disciplined was greater than my integrity. It has taken years of my life and some very difficult lessons to untangle myself from that habit. From that I have gained valuable insight though. Honesty is the concrete of our creations; it is what holds it all together. From it we are able to build more and more creations. Lying is like a pickaxe to that integral mortar, and weakens everything it touches over time.
Truth is the very foundation of our reality. It is the basis by which we all communicate and interact. When that foundation is chipped at, it weakens everyone’s ability to operate. Recently I was helping a local business park cars for a game day. It was simple work, greeting people, accepting payments and directing the cars to the proper parking spot. During this, a large work truck with a trailer pulls up. It would easily take up 4 spaces. The driver asked the owner if he could park for 30 minutes; he was part of the pregame festivities and needed a spot for a short while. The owner said no and that the driver would need to pay full price. The driver moved on through. As he left, something struck me. The owner did not trust the man’s promise of 30 minutes, not because the driver was untrustworthy, but because the last few times he had trusted others in that way, he got burned. When we lie, it affects everyone down the line. Trust is something that we all contribute to.
Almost all lying is from fear of reprisal in the forms of shame, guilt, and punishment. In that place we feel it is better to sit with our own lie, or run from it instead of taking responsibility. I felt this throughout much of my life and will share an example. As a teenager I lived in Germany. It was a wonderful experience, but it lacked one thing. In the United States it is real easy to get a license and drive, in Germany not so much. I had practiced in the States a few times on vacations and with friends, so every time I would get in the car with my mom I would ask to drive. She would almost always say no, but on occasion I could drive for a little bit, so the pattern continued.
One night I was out with my friends to watch a Fussbal match and got a little carried away with alcohol. The venue we were at offered a free shot every time Germany scored, and they scored 5 goals while I was there. I passed out on the train home and missed my bus, so I had to call my mom at 1:40 AM to come pick me up. Yikes. She of course asked where I had been and why I smelled like alcohol. I lied every step of the way. Liquor had spilled on me, I fell asleep instead of passing out drunk, and none of it was my fault. To prove my honesty I jokingly asked to drive the car. I do not know what possessed her in that moment, but she said yes. Now I was caught in it. I either had to drive home drunk, or admit that I was unfit to drive. I was terrified of being caught so I doubled down. We switched seats and I became the chauffeur. I used every bit of my will and acumen to drive that manual transmission and did not stall out until we pulled into our driveway. I stumbled as I got out of the car, but we got home safely. A miracle.
To prove the “truth” of a lie, we will go further and further down the path of obscurity and create more lies until we are surrounded by them. These become chains that force our hands to continually do more and more of the things that make us feel icky inside. This path continues until self-destruction or a release of the lies. On the other hand, truth is freedom. There is no need to prove something as true it simply is. Can you imagine someone asking you to prove the sun’s existence? You would just give them a strange look and vaguely gesture up at the sky. This is truth. It is self-evident for all to behold.
Not only does it prove itself by its very existence, it is something that we can build from. Every step taken is taken upon sound ground that is based on the previous step. You get to Calculus from Algebra. As we understand it, they both hold up. Every part of our scholastic, political, and daily lives are based on the trust of others before us. Their works are the steps that have brought us to where we are. Should there be any untruth in those steps, the entire civilization begins to crumble and fall. It is only through our trust in ourselves and our fellow man that we build anything that lasts.
P.S. I am truly sorry for lying that night mom. I was scared.
All the Love,
Ryan Orion
Fasting Notes:
It is getting a little more difficult to get out of bed in the mornings, but I am enjoying the process. There is more of a blending from sleep into wakefulness and vice versa as I wake and go to bed. As I begin to move around and get momentum more clarity comes.
I still have fever-like symptoms and expect that they should end in a day or so.
My intuition has skyrocketed. I feel like I know the future. The more I interact with people in this state, the more I am able to sense their intentions or feel what they are going through. Likewise my manifestations are speeding up. When I think about something often it begins to happen. People I think of call me and similar synchronicities are occurring rapidly.
I am hosting a live devotional on May 1 6PM CT to share more of my experience and answer questions! You can click here to join:
Ryan Orion 
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