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This world is a place where truth and falsehood dwell side by side. In the beginning truth alone was to be found. But the devil, who told a lie in paradise, introduced lying into the universe. Now truth and falsehood are destined to abide together until the end of time.
Often is truth compelled to withdraw into the secret recesses of a good man’s heart; falsehood, on the contrary, stalks hither and thither, lifting its insolent head with an air of triumph, spreading its hellish doctrines far and wide. How mighty is the tree of falsehood, how thick are its branches, how inviting its fruits, how refreshing the shadows it casts! How accomplished is falsehood in the art of flattering, of making itself beloved, of winning the favor of men!
My dear daughter, you are as yet young and inexperienced, but you must have noticed that a man who is proficient in the arts of falsehood, of intrigue, of flattering, lying and deceit, and who as is usually the case, possesses a glib tongue, and knows very well how to chatter—that such a man, I say, may amass wealth, and bring his undertakings to a prosperous end. Another man who adheres strictly to the truth, and utters nothing but the truth, very often suffers failure.
Do not allow yourself to be blinded by the success which attends false men and deceivers, whether their prosperity is only brief, or whether it is more lasting. Do not be dazzled by external appearances, howsoever brilliant these may be. For though falsehood may carry on its diabolical work with triumphant success for a very long time, it cannot do so forever; sooner or later a time must come when it will be unmasked and put to shame; prostrate and humbled, it will be forced to bear witness to the truth which it hated.
Therefore, away with all falsehood from your heart, away with all duplicity from your mouth, away with all the tricks, wiles and artifices of a false and perfidious world! Away with deception, flattery, craft, and all their hellish brood! Take to your bosom this sweet and gentle daughter of heaven—Truth, and together with it embrace all its charming companions—the virtues—that follow in its train. Suppress the fatal tendency to insincerity, which is more or less deeply rooted in every human breast.
Root out the inclination to hypocrisy and dissimulation. Strive to be always good and pious in the sight of God, not merely to appear so in the eyes of men. Be polite, amiable and friendly to very one; but be all this in reality. A young woman who behaves with great friendliness toward any person she secretly detests and talks about in an unkind manner, plays the part of a hypocrite. In the Garden of Olives, Judas greeted and kissed the Redeemer, at the very time when he was treating Him with shameful ingratitude and disgraceful treachery.
Never allow yourself to be induced to practice any kind of dissimulation. Remember the aged Eleazar, who refused to deny his faith by partaking of swine’s flesh. Some of his friends, from motives compassion, advised him to bring secretly some kind of meat that was not forbidden, and pretend to be eating the flesh of swine. But he replied: “It doth not become our age to dissemble.” Truly it does not become an old man to play the hypocrite; nor does it become a young man or a child; and least of all a Christian maiden.
Be faithful to your friend, the truth. Do not be anxious to please at any cost. Every age, every rank of life, each sex, has its special and peculiar faults and foibles. Among the weaknesses belonging to the feminine sex, an excessive desire to please holds a prominent place. You must be on your guard against this desire to please, for it might easily lead you into various kinds of untruthfulness in your speech and actions. An excessive desire to please might lead you, when at home with your parents, to pray, to work, to be obedient, obliging, and friendly to every one. But you might do all this, not from a sense of duty, not from love of God, but exclusively, or almost exclusively, from the wish to win the favor and approval of those with whom you are brought into contact. In a case like this, would not the Saviour’s warning be applicable to you: “Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them: otherwise you shall not have a reward of your Father who is in heaven.”
For human praise, O Christian, do not crave.
Let not this fickle world thy foolish heart enslave;
Seek favor from on high; though man may flatter thee,
This will avail thee nought throughout eternity.
Let one great and holy desire enter into your heart, and there hold sway, namely, to please God in all your thoughts, words, and actions. Every morning renew your intention to do all things, both great and small, for the love of God, and resolutely determine not to indulge an immoderate desire to please your fellow-creatures.
Thus will you remain faithful to your friend, the truth, and will never be betrayed into flattery. The temptation to flatter comes indeed very forcibly when you have to deal with persons whose favor might be of service to you, or whose disapproval might be injurious to you. It would be easy for you to praise them in extravagant terms, to extol their good qualities above what they really deserve, and to pay them compliments which you do not really mean. This tendency to exaggerated politeness is one of the faults of society in the present day. Scarcely has a visitor entered a house, before he is greeted with elaborate friendliness, with apparently sincere delight, his hand is pressed, his entertainer is never tired of repeating: “How delighted I am to see you!” All the time the excessively polite person wishes the visitor at Jericho, for the time at least, since the call is paid at an inopportune hour. And when he is preparing to take leave, he is urged and besought to stay a little longer, though great would be the host’s dismay were the departing guest to yield to these entreaties, and resume his seat! This is but one instance of many that might be brought forward to show the manners of society people; they practice an exaggerated politeness, which is merely external. “Outside fair, inside bare!” as the homely saying expresses it. Be careful always to observe the rules of politeness, but see that the outward form is the expression of genuine feeling and of true charity toward your neighbor. Love truth; practice sincerity; despise falsehood and dissimulations. More particularly see that your conduct toward your parents, your confessor, your teachers and friends, is free from all admixture of falseness. Prove the distich to be untrue that says:
With a grain of love, and of faith a grain,
A grain of deceit will always remain.
No: the truth above all, and in all things—sincerity.