Kindly Lies

Do you Kindly Lie? Tell someone an untruth knowingly because at the time it was the right thing to do. The right ‘white’ lie to tell?

I watched a program where one of the characters told a man’s son that she broke off the love affair with his father even though it wasn’t the truth. She told his father that wife, mother, and son were allot more important that someone you think is a good substitute for them. Was she wrong to lie to the son?

I know that in life sometimes it’s easier to tell ‘kindly’ lies than it is to tell the truth. Why is that? Is telling the truth more hurtful than protective? I know when a person is ill or dying, sometimes, ‘kindly’ lies are the only game in town. It makes that critically ill person or dying person believe in something that’s not exactly truthful, but not exactly lying either.

It’s meant to offer relief, protection, solace, to a person who otherwise wouldn’t be able to deal or face the truth. I know parents tell ‘kindly’ lies to their children. They believe they’re doing their kids a favor by not honoring them with the truth of the matter. It keeps them from suspecting the worse of a person or thing.

As we go through life, ‘kindly’ lies are told by our government to us, the public. I believe they do that in order to protect the public from the worst case scene that we the public aren’t able to face or deal with at the moment. It’s an intention by our government to keep us safe. Like UFO’s, alien beings, mysterious creatures, they want to reassure us all is right in our present world, and not be afraid to continue on with our daily and normal routine.

Parents do that for their loved ones; their own parents. As we age, the ability to face our ‘danger’ increases. The wisdom of our parents caring and guiding their parents is one way they can control the environment of their beloved seniors. In every generation, technology changes at a rapid rate. It’s happening in the 21st century. As we progress from one technical leap to another, seniors feel out-of-place or out-of-whack to deal with the new types of technological skill we need to learn and use in our daily lives. The ‘kindly’ lies told to our seniors is more of an effort to help them deal with the newness of what’s being introduced within our fragile society and culture.

‘Kindly’ lies are meant to make people feel safer. To make people believe they are accelerating at the same pace as their peers. It doesn’t always feel that way. Although I’ve gotten the knack of using my cell phone adequately, I know my grandchildren do a better job of understanding, implementing, and using it at break neck speed that I still don’t comprehend.

The next time you hear someone tell you a ‘kindly’ lie, ask them whom they are protecting: themselves or us?

Until next time… .