{"id":4204,"date":"2024-11-20T08:13:40","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T13:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=4204"},"modified":"2024-11-20T08:13:40","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T13:13:40","slug":"a-pound-of-mushrooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/20\/a-pound-of-mushrooms\/","title":{"rendered":"A Pound of Mushrooms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>

My mom, who stepped into the next world seven years ago at the age of 92, was somewhat eccentric.

She had a lifelong love affair with chocolate and All Things Sugary. She appreciated bright colors, goofy little slogans, pictures of cats wearing tuxedos, and anything that happened to depict a moose.

She also had a tendency from time to time to put her own special spin on reality. Let me put it this way: Mom liked to exaggerate<\/em>.

Sometime back in the 70s, when my parents decided to patronize a new restaurant, Mom came home raving about her steak that had been covered with saut\u00e9ed mushrooms. \u201cI got a pound of mushrooms!\u201d

Dad quickly retorted, \u201cNo, you didn\u2019t.\u201d \u201cYes, I did,\u201d she insisted, \u201ceverybody<\/em> got a pound of mushrooms!\u201d All of us, ultimately, had a chance to order a steak at that restaurant, and we most definitely did not get a pound of mushrooms.

But the saying lives on. To this day, in my family, if you want to dismiss something out of hand, you say, \u201cOh, that\u2019s just a pound of mushrooms.\u201d

Our judicial system compels witnesses to swear or affirm that they will tell \u201cthe truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.\u201d Why those three separate provisions?

\u201cThe truth\u201d is the simple request that the one testifying will describe reality \u2013 that is, what is actually true. \u201cThe whole truth\u201d means that relevant facts must not be intentionally withheld \u2013 omissions that might change the perception of what actually happened. \u201cNothing but the truth\u201d is the prohibition of hyperbole or exaggeration. There must be no piling on. That would include embellished details in general and sauteed fungus in particular.

Arriving at the truth, however, is not always an easy task.

Author and psychotherapist Brad Blanton has established a movement called Radical Honesty.\u00a0He advocates absolute truth-telling in all circumstances, even when it hurts.\u00a0

But is this really a good idea?

In the movie A Few Good Men, <\/em>Jack Nicholson rages, \u201cYou want the truth?\u00a0You can\u2019t handle the truth!\u201d The plain truth is that there are some truths we really cannot handle.

Children do not need to know every detail about this fallen world.\u00a0And there are certain questions that need to be handled with maximum discretion:\u00a0\u201cHoney, do these jeans make me look fat?\u201d

All things considered, however, most of us would love to hear more of the truth \u2013 and to be more courageous in telling it.

For human beings, unfortunately, lying is a way of life.\u00a0According to a study overseen by professor of psychology Robert S. Feldman, people tell 3.3 lies during an average 10-minute conversation.\u00a0Other studies have revealed that we are lied to<\/em> approximately 200 times a day.

Author Ralph Keyes declares that \u201csome form of deception occurs in nearly two-thirds of all conversations.\u201d\u00a0Something like 60% of American parents admit to lying to their children on a regular basis (\u201cChick Fil-A is closed right now\u201d) even though those same parents tell their children that bending the truth is wrong and have no tolerance when their kids lie to them.

According to spiritual author James Bryan Smith, HR experts estimate that approximately 25% of the information that appears on resumes is not just \u201cpadding\u201d but \u201cgross misinformation.\u201d\u00a0

A 2002 undercover sting operation in New Jersey documented 350 examples of fraud at auto repair centers.\u00a0The really jarring part of this story is that the sting targeted only six auto shops.\u00a0Investigators estimate that lies told by mechanics lead American consumers to cough up some $40 billion annually for unnecessary repairs.

There is no question that way too many of us believe that we have to lie in order to get by.

The apostle Paul famously declares in Ephesians 4:15 that we are to \u201cspeak the truth in love.\u201d\u00a0For followers of Jesus, who described himself as the Way, the Truth<\/em>, and the Life, fixed patterns of distorting reality simply will not do.\u00a0Clinging to God\u2019s help, sustained by God\u2019s forgiveness, and empowered by God\u2019s Spirit, we must resolve to become truth-telling people.\u00a0

That means actually taking responsibility for the words that come out of our mouths.<\/em>

Love is what must lead us. Our call is to speak humbly, cautiously, and always with an intent to build others up. And frankly \u2013 if we\u2019re really wise \u2013 to stop speaking altogether when silence would clearly be an improvement.

Because of God\u2019s grace, there really is hope we can make progress.

And that\u2019s no pound of mushrooms.
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here My mom, who stepped into the next world seven years ago at the age of 92, was somewhat eccentric. She had a lifelong love affair with chocolate and All Things Sugary. She appreciated bright colors, goofy little slogans, pictures of cats wearing tuxedos, and anything that happened to depict a moose…. Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[684,108],"class_list":["post-4204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-lies","tag-truth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4204"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4206,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4204\/revisions\/4206"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}