We’ve all heard that before – “I promise to tell the whole truth…” I’ve said, “If it’s not the whole truth, it’s not the truth.” Now, I have a question – Is this always true?
This Christmas has been one of a couple of “surprise” gifts. I love being a part of surprising people with good things that make them happy. However, the whole nature of a “surprise” is that it must remain a secret until the time comes for it to be revealed. This leads to… well… many “almost” the truth, but not the whole truth, type of conversations.
Is that wrong?
Somehow I think there is a danger of legalism here in that we cannot ever have fun and surprise people based on the need for always telling the entire truth. But, certainly there are many other times where there is no surprise involved, we simply don’t want to deal with the whole truth.
I guess it depends – some may call this “situational ethics,” but I do not believe that’s a fair label for this situation. In the end, the half truth is for the other person’s benefit (a fun surprise) not trying to save our own tail because the whole truth would reveal wrongdoing on our part.
So, have fun! Surprise others and make them smile. Don’t be legalistic and miss the spirit of the principle. The truth is – we know when we need to tell the whole truth and when we can keep a secret for the benefit of a surprise.
I hope some of you had some great surprises this Christmas!
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1 comment:
I would recommend to anyone trying to hide a puppy from someone for a surprise... don't try to hide it for more than a few days! A week is nearly impossible! :-) Oh, but what a surprise!
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