Never Obvious

There are not a lot of landmarks or warning signs
when it comes to what reality has in store for us.
Whether it's a cheating husband or a natural
disaster, it's hard to pinpoint when your world will
be rocked by circumstances beyond your control.
(I know some cheating husbands who sort of are
natural disasters, but I digress.)


This world of ours is fueled and run by pretense,
falsehoods, fraud, and duplicity....it's the nature
of the beast. You can either learn to get your
mobster on or you can dig that ditch til you die.
Choices...lots of choices.


Americans cling to their pretenses like favorite
dolls; the illusion, after all, is everything. We
promote the idea of goodness and morality, but
in fact it's the maintaining of the illusion rather
than the actuality of moral behavior that revs us up.


We love our manipulations, even when we're
only lying to ourselves.


Think about all the Ted Haggards in our world;
busily tauting the 'right' way for others to live
while engaging in deceptiveness and dark actions
of their own. Double standards rock the Casbah.


Only when caught do these folks get honest. Nah,
just kidding! That's when they start justifying and
rationalizing and blaming others and telling you that
what you think you saw isn't what you actually saw.


We are a nation of parents that want children to
"Do as I say, not as I do," ignoring fully all the
evidence of reality which states that children are
always paying attention and far more likely to "Do
what you do, not what you say."


I know someone who talks endlessly about how
'immoral' every harlot and whore in town is, but
she houses her criminal son while financing and
covering up for his criminal activities. Hmmm.


Unlike most self-professed 'good' people (whatever
that means--everyone basically considers themselves
a 'good person' at the end of the day,) I don't believe
that there is a deity waiting to set the scales right at
the end of time. I wish I could believe in such fluff;
I'm sure it would be quite calming to at least think
that people will, eventually, 'get theirs,' even if I am
not there to see it happen.


But alas, I constantly see people prospering from illegal
and immoral activities. I see people who get off
on hurting others find favor and accord, while
those who are genuine are devalued and discredited.

I see a perpetual imbalance between the good folk
suffering and the bad folk advancing. And it is, of course,
disheartening.