The Forest for the Trees

Within the word BELIEVE are three letters: L-I-E.  I can't take credit for that. It was actually one of the best "word effects" of the Achtung Baby tour U2 did in 1992. I was in my early twenties and I remember going particularly bonkers over this. It struck a chord in me. Deep. At the time I thought that was cool, and I still do, but I also think it's quite sad.

For me it hit on a personal truth: most of what people tell you to believe is a flat out lie.  The X-Files would come along later with a fantastic slogan that I also ate up: "Trust No One".  I added these slogans to my own favorite quote "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer", which came from my  personal "bible" at the time, The Art of War by Sun Tzu.  Do you get the picture? I was an incredibly dark minded individual with no faith in people whatsoever and a mindset built for war, of any kind, with anyone and for almost any reason.

I hope you don't see the world this way. If you do, take it from me: you are blind. You literally will go through life not seeing the forest for the trees. Flip those quotes around for a second and maybe you'll see why:

BElieVE: It's usually the liars who always think they're being lied to. What are you hiding? Or what are you hiding from? By believing in nothing and no one you will have nothing to believe in and no one who will believe in you.

Trust No One: A person cannot be trustworthy until you are first willing to trust them. By trusting no one you will condemn yourself to a life of complete loneliness.

Friends and Enemies: To keep your enemies closer than your friends is to short change your friends and to attempt to manipulate your enemies. Instead, Jesus tells us to love them. Why? Perhaps another U2 song gives us a hint:

"Choose your enemies carefully ‘cause they will define you,
Make them interesting ‘cause in some ways they will mind you,
They’re not there in the beginning but when your story ends?
Gonna last with you longer than your friends."