The Truth we don't see.

Integrity, where do we stand?

WE often overlook things in our everyday lives that affect us down the road. They often seem unimportant and sometimes wonderful. Many are things which often affect our children, and how they view us, as parents. One of these are how we lie to our children, innocently, but is there such a thing? For example, we lie to our children to reinforce behavior. We tell them they have to be good or they won't get a present from Santa. Sometimes these children are good, but they hardly received any presents because their parents are poor, or un-giving, yet the bad kid in school brags on all the gifts he received from Santa. We encourage his older brother to lie, and continue this charade, for his little brother, after he himself found out he had been lied to. What then mommy, is the Easter Bunny a lie? And I guess you lied about the Tooth fairy as well. And about Jesus rising from the dead, having died for our sins. STOP! You see where this is going? What is the dividing line? We lie so enthusiasticly well, to where, when they find out the truth, they lose faith in not only us as a parent, but question faith itself, not knowing what is right and good, losing all that is magical in the world. We see Santa in our churches, in the mall, on TV, and then we have to lie again and say "there helpers,"and then on to all the extremes to keep the secret.
Our Nation has been hijacked by half truths, lies and what ifs, that we don't see the harm. We have become blind to truth, because it makes us, and the children, happy. What about being good for the sake of being good, and doing the right thing, because it is the right thing. Do they feel they don't have to be good, now that they know there is no Santa? And do they have no faith either, not knowing if there is any truth in any of it? What do you think about the lies we tell our children? and does it affect them, subconsciously?