Samson Was An Onion

Have you ever been lied to?

I have, but it took me quite some time to realize it.

How did you feel when you found out?

Maybe it was deliberate, maybe it was through confusion. But it matters when people tell a lie. Sometimes, it matters a lot.

A number of years ago I was on a small town jury. The charge was (sadly) possession of marijuana, probably with intent to sell, though I honestly don’t remember that now. I was one of 12 jurors.

The trial began. The police officer told of stopping this man in the wee hours of the morning, where the guy pulled into a parking space in town – just a block from the courthouse where we sat for the trial. By the time the officer walked up to the car, there was no pot in the car, despite a search.

Coincidentally, there was a bag of pot right below the driver’s side door, lying there on the pavement.

But, hey, it didn’t belong to him!! Pure coincidence. The defendant had quite a story about the entire situation. He just happened to pull into that parking space, etc.

We jurors were new at this, and confused. We listened to the instructions and went into deliberation. Still confused. After some discussion and some time had passed, I began to think really clearly.

One of them was lying. But which one? Could be the cop – there are dishonest cops. Could be the guy accused of pot sales.

I started laying out the “if….then..” for the other jurors.

If the cop was lying, then these 5 things had to be true (all pretty improbable).

If the defendant was lying, then only one thing had to be true: he dumped the bag of pot out the door or the window as soon as he pulled into the parking space.

Shortly all the other jurors could see the either-or situation, and that one person was lying. Together we agreed the defendant was guilty and he was convicted. (Nowadays I’d hate to spend that much energy and money on a pot charge, but this was in the ’70’s.)

When two people – or groups – disagree completely, diametrically, on what the facts are, there are lies involved.

How do we tell who is lying? FAKE NEWS has become an unfortunate alarm cry. There is fake news. But it’s not always where the fake-news-labelers say it is.

How do we tell?

We are gifted with thinking, with intuition, with discernment. It doesn’t always work perfectly, but when we set our minds to find the truth, it can usually be found. Sometimes the reason truth seems so elusive is that large numbers of people don’t really want to know the truth, and keep it buried with accusations.

Did you ever know of someone whose spouse was cheating on them, having an affair? And lots of people knew it except the spouse? I know a couple of people who had that experience. Digging deeper, it was usually because they didn’t really want to know.

They ignored the clues, they ignored their own intuition, because they were afraid of what would happen if they looked with clear eyes at the truth.

Maybe their marriage would end. Maybe their financial security would be threatened. Maybe they would have to make a really hard decision.

Right now, we are swimming in a sea of both deliberate and accidental lies. It’s enough to make any sane person cynical. It’s enough to make some people get duped by multiple conspiracy theories… we’re talking capital C Conspiracy Theories!

To get out of this cultural period of lies, confusion and polarization, we need to pull all our thinking capacity to the front lines. We need to use our critical thinking, as well as our intuition.

If this is really true, then… these things have to be true. Can that be? Is that even possible, or reasonable?

Do you care enough about the truth to ask for it? Are you brave enough to ask these questions about things that you value? You might not like the answers.

My dad taught us a lot about critical thinking. When we were really young, he started with this one:

Dad: An onion is strong, right?

Me and my brother: Yeah.

Dad: Samson was strong, right?

Me and my brother: Yeessss…. (Where was this going?)

Dad: Therefore, Samson was an onion.

Me and my brother: Wait! What?…what are you talking about?

When we protested, a discussion on the need for careful critical thinking would follow. I don’t remember the details, just the Samson was an onion lesson, which said it all.

I was once in an emotionally brutal marriage for a year. The last few months I was sick and desperate. I thought I was doing God’s will, staying loving and committed. But it was so painful, I was isolated from all my friends and most of my family and cried a lot. What was wrong?

Finally, when none of my other prayers were being answered, I began to pray fervently to see clearly.

Holy Spirit, help me see clearly. I prayed this over and over to myself.

You know what happened? Things got worse.

Yes, things got worse. Day by day, he was more brutal more often, until he finally said, “I hope you get sick from eating that!” as he slammed a plate down in front of me.

My thinking capacity finally showed up, like the cavalry to the front lines. As if cold water were thrown over me, I suddenly thought, “This isn’t right!” A few hours later I left, taking shelter where he couldn’t find me.

How did I feel when I realized I had been deceived, and even lied to?

Humiliated. Devastated. Wrecked.

But I was grateful to still be alive. I had been making mental lists in my head for months – “When this is over, I will apologize to …. ” The list was long. I began the work over the next few weeks, along with crying a great deal and doing everything I knew to heal.

Are you going around declaring Samson is an onion to your friends and family? Have you pushed the snooze button on your thinking capacity? Are you believing lies just because they are loud and repeated over and over?

How will you feel when the truth is finally clear to all?

Remember the voice of God is nearly always the still small Voice within. We have to be quiet and connected to hear it.

You do not have to be tricked into believing lies simply because they are loud and outrageous.

Your thinking capacity – and your intuition – will return if you really want them.

You do have the courage to face the truth.

Samson is NOT an onion.