The emperor has long been naked,
But no one seems to see.
Only a few dare to point it out;
A sin not easily forgiven—if ever,
And never understood.
In spite of thwarted reality,
We don’t want to know the truth.
Rather, we dwell in our prisons
Where we know what to expect.
We’d rather keep our comforts--
All things familiar.
Than risk standing alone
Yet, together we are entangled
In a web of falsities.
We will die here--
We will!
But we fool ourselves with our
Feel-good experiences.
We tell ourselves they validate our misconstrued truths.
We excuse ourselves--
while persecuting others;
When we focus on another’s failures
We forget about our own
How much easier to be the accuser than the accused!
Only truth can set us free,
And no one has the monopoly.
There is only One Truth,
And it resides not in walls made by man,
But in hearts formed by Truth, Himself.
How difficult it is to first see the nakedness. How strange when we first point it out. And how painful when others claim we are wrong, when they cling to lies and abandon us because we dared to tell the truth.
ReplyDeleteIt is a break with everything we were taught when we speak up and expose the "man behind the curtain." I think sometimes we are most alone when we say what we see... when our hearts and minds and mouths stop affirming the brokenness behind the facade.
How strange that the journey to truth was about us and the nakedness we proclaimed was really our own but what the emperors saw was our fingers pointed at them and what they heard was their own nakedness declared. And then the fight was on! But it was a never a fight we wanted.
Healing. Restoration. Wholeness. Peace. My intentions were never to expose you or hurt you, but you were too afraid to allow me to go free.
wow! So well stated...how do I even comment on it? It's true. It brings everything into perspective, doesn't it!?
ReplyDeleteIt does get hard to see truth and try to play along with those who refuse to see it...or who are not ready or willing. It does cost to stand up and delcare what is. I suspect it cost much more to not stand up and declare the truth...to live in a world of purposed/chosen deceit!
And...we act as if not pulling the curtain back to expose what is there, changes anything. As if it makes the smallness of the man...his abuse of power, etc., disappear. It's still a little man using illusion to make himself look mighty and godlike. Be it behind the curtain or with curtain pulled aside--he is what he is...and we are what we are.
And yes, the journey was really about us...and we are the ones who have touched freedom and can now breathe. All because we dared to open our eyes and live..rather than living life with them closed.
I, for one, am thankful and relieved to have arrived home....and left the land of Oz behind.