The false witness

After Exodus 20:16 

The false witness,

the liar, wreaks

reverberating havoc.

It does not matter

if the false witness

is on the campaign trail,

or the courtroom,

in the police report,

in the academic paper,

in the classroom,

in the marketplace, 

in the Ph.D. thesis,

in the pulpit or pew,

in the scientific study,

in the home.

False witness is

the acid eating

the bonds of love,

the bonds of community,

the bonds of trust.

It is the wind and water

eroding the foundation

of life, of our life.

Whether by omission

or commission, false

witness destroys until

itself is undone.

 

Photograph by Taras Chernus via Unsplash. Used by permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

The Leak – poem by Seth Lewis.

 

When the Blind See and the Seeing are Blind – Mitch Chase at Biblical Theology.

 

What is the Unpardonable Sin? (Matthew 12) – Dan Doriani at Crossway.

 

Great Gamble: The Failed Launch of Moby Dick – Jason Clark at This is the Day.

 

“Timor Mortis Conturbat Me,” poem by Anonymous – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.