In this pondering I would like to share with you four quotes from a book I have just recently read. One of the blessings that I find in retirement is that I now can read for enjoyment and not always for education or employment. Yet from time to time, I will read a book that challenges me to grow as I think about what I can take from a new book and apply it to my life and the world around me.
One such book that I read recently and have shared with others is “The Little Liar” written by Mitch Albom who has become over the years my favorite author. I first started reading Mitch years ago in the Detroit Free Press. Mitch was a sportswriter who would venture beyond sports in writing books that affect people’s lives. His first book “Tuesdays With Morrie” became a bestseller and Mitch has gone on to author other books. My favorite book for enjoyment was “The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto.” Mitchell’s latest book “The Little Liar” came out this past summer and it is a book formed around fictional characters yet the circumstances and what happened to these fictional characters comes from real history. The book is about someone who lived through the Holocaust starting as a child when the Holocaust began and continues the unfolding of life and how such horrendous acts affected him so many years after his experiences. I would recommend the book to you and would gladly share my copy when available; you may want to purchase it, or it can be attained through our local libraries. In our Pentwater community it is a book that is being read in book clubs.
There are many quotable parts to the book that I can share with you. I have picked out four that are important to me as I look at what is happening in the world around us today.
Quote No. 1: “When questioning a madman, it is like interrogating a spider. They both go on spinning their webs until someone squashes them out of existence.”
My thought: I have found over the years, from time to time, I have been confronted with people who no longer see the truth as it really is. We attempt to have rational discussion of the truth with them, yet they continue to believe in the untruth even when proof is against them in their unbelief. You come to a point where there will be no way of convincing them of the truth. Once I have given a respectable amount of discussion in this untruth with that person, I need to realize that my position and their position are not going to change, and I need to walk away.
Quote No. 2: “Human beings are inclined to hate others if they believe the “others” are the cause of their unhappiness.”
My thought: It was not until my young years while attending undergraduate school that I began to see and experience the hatred that some people have for others. The answer I searched for was: how could they come to have such hatred within themselves? So often human beings do not take responsibility for their own feelings, thoughts or actions and blame so much upon others that it manifests itself in hatred and the “others” can be anyone who is not like them. My belief is that God did create everyone equal and in His own image and you cannot allow hatred in your heart to exist.
Quote #\No. 3 “When we say enough and it is time to move on, this is how it begins, time passes, people forget, then it happens again.”
My thought: Yes, at times we do need to move on only if we recognize and record in history the truth of what has happened and do not allow others to rewrite history in their favor. We need to recognize our shortcomings and ask for forgiveness of our sins. Then all can move on.
Quote No. 4: “A voice that could warn you how a lie told once is easy to expose, but a lie told 1000 times can look like the truth and destroy the world.”
My thought: Of the four quotes that I have brought to you this day, No. 4 is the one that I see affecting us daily and will continue to affect us in the future until we live by and uphold the 9th commandment “That you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Which means you shall not lie. And when someone continues to lie you must confront them and if they continue to lie then you must no longer associate with them and continue to call them out. To not do so gives them permission to continue spreading the lie.
I have other books that Mitch Albom has written, and I would be glad to loan them to you. Mitch’s book “Tuesdays With Morrie” has been made into a play and movie. A second play, “Duck Hunters Shoot Angels,” is one of my mother’s favorites. Reba and I have been blessed to have attended both. Mitch still writes for the Detroit Free Press and USA Today. He continues to be active in supporting mission projects in the Detroit area and he and his wife are founders of an orphanage and school in Haiti
Claybanks United Methodist Church 