Layers

Truth and facts can be illusive, especially with you cross the rivers of culture, languages, ages, intent, and motives.  Obvious meanings are not.  Words traditionally translated in a singular manner are used in obscure contexts.  Intentional perceptions are built with care, ignoring ethical boundaries.  The illusion of the truth is carefully built and defended, ignoring all facts.  The caveat of knowledge and intent is carefully maintained, lest anyone discover that there was an intent to deceive and manipulate.
For many, what others do not know does not hurt them.  Truth is a dangerous doorway that only those confirmed to be on our side should be able to pass.  It seems natural to assume that this is the right way to approach any and every situation. 
I am not immune to the lure of this kind of approach.  Candidly, it is far more appealing than I am willing to admit.  Frankly, it is often useful.  Yet, in the darkness of the night, my soul cries out in sadness when I reflect on the price that my soul pays for each memory.  The greatest price paid for the layers of lies we give others rests within our soul. 
The cost extends far beyond the immediate.  You see, each false truth we give to others is in the first instance a lie we tell to our self and to God.  With each lie, we paint a picture to ourselves of the evil that struggles to live within.  We remind our souls that Evil is ok in context.  We model how one can accept goodness alongside darkness.  We replay an old story; “Peter said, 'Ananias, how did Satan get you to lie to the Holy Spirit and secretly keep back part of the price of the field?  Before you sold it, it was all yours, and after you sold it, the money was yours to do with as you wished.  So what got into you to pull a trick like this?  You didn't lie to men but to God.'”  (Acts 5.3, 4)  With time, the results are always the same.