Plain Speaking

Okay, I think I've found the perfect title for my blog.  It reflects more clearly what I'm trying to do with its posts.  Speak the truth, always and everywhere--truth to power, truth to the people, the truth and nothing but the truth.

The truth can be the hardest thing to say and to hear, which is why it's rarely spoken.  But like the little boy who saw the King naked and dared say it, in Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale about the 'Emperor's New Clothes', someone has to step up and just tell the truth, whether it's inconvenient, unpopular, embarrassing, or whatever. 

Just tell the frikin' truth, and then let the chips fall where they may.  Many time, it's simply the most loving thing to do.  Really.  It's why we love Jon Stewart, Stewart Colbert, and most comedians.  They tell the truth more than anyone else.  Frankly, speaking personally now, most preachers don't tell the truth, for fear of what they would hear at the door.  They speak platitudes, comforting words/lies, stories that sooth and placate.  That's why Jesus, who always spoke the truth, was nearly killed when he first spoke in his home town of Nazareth, and it's why they eventually nailed him to a cross.  The truth is definitely dangerous.  But it's also powerful, eternal, and right.

Speak the truth in love, apostle Paul wrote.  He also was beheaded by the Roman Emperor.  Ouch. 

There is one caveat.  With close family, one has to really temper your plain speaking truth with love.  This means different things, but most of the time, it probably means lubricating whatever truth you share with lots and lots of listening, apologizing, hugging, etc.