Words and Pictures
Each word is a blow to the white ball on the crowded billiard table that represents our human relationship. Although by nature we are subject to outside influences, if we think that our actions are just the logical outcome of these influences, then our existence would be limited to an accumulation of successes and mistakes. But when we weight the cue of our speech with intention and awareness, we set foot on much more dangerous territory: a land inhabited by Truth and Falsehood; the verbal embodiment of Virtue and Sin; opposite sides of the same coin; the two hands of the same God. Whosoever visits these realms is at the same time blessed and punished in being given the power of taking responsibility for himself. Truth and Falsehood are worldly expressions of two universal forces: Creation and Destruction. One is the tree that from its roots grows and gives forth fruit; the other is the crack that extends and splits the rock. To uphold a truth tends to elevate us, and requires intentional effort; whereas to let fall from our lips a lie is consciously to let ourselves down: Heaven and Hell, in the symbolic language of the Bible. Both actions expand and spread in a progressive and subtle way, modifying and passing through ourselves and through those who are close to us. Just one truth grows and lights up all our words. Just one lie reproduces itself and escapes from the frame in which we try to contain it, making it impossible to anticipate all of its consequences. The price that we must pay to repair the damage is sometimes high, especially since it usually incurs costs to our self-image and amour propre. A liar is aware of the truth, because otherwise he would only be making a mistake. Through the sin of a lie, the liar plays God, inventing reality for his interlocutor in order to suit his own immediate convenience. Truth is more precious than lies because we cannot create the former; we can only let it express itself through us, and it is accessible to our perception in a limited way. Lies abound on our billiard-table, for these are capricious constructions. There are far more ways to miss a shot than to pot the ball. Truth is mother of Falsehood; Truth must first exist so that the latter can be born. After all, Falsehood is nothing but the deliberate reorganisation of small truths. It is impossible to construct truth with lies: the closest we can get to this would be to induce the truth by means of absurdity. Without doubt, lies can destroy lives. The truth cannot be truly destructive: it only can demolish what has been constructed upon deceit.Truth welcomes truth; whereas a lie generates more lies and needs the truth to be healed. The only cure available is the lie's own extinction; and convalescence takes the form of penance. Lies can be pardoned, but almost never justified. Why then should I wish to make the effort to uphold truth? Why should I choose to describe falsehood as a sin voluntarily entered into, rather than an excusable error? The answer is simple: I am trying to be awake in a world that invites me to dream. Once we have arrived at this point we encounter another inhabitant of this dangerous land: silence. This is one of the forms of the third expression of the Universe: the neutral force, the edge of the coin. It is an extremely subtle state where opposites are in a delicate balance. It is infinitely easier to break a silence than to create it, which makes it all the more precious. The word has no other real meaning than "the absence of sound", although the power of synthesis that 'silence' has, makes the use of any synonym difficult. To remain silent is not the same as to consent. This is a purely subjective understanding, arising from our expectation. If we need to speak out but we keep silent, we have still called into existence what which was left unsaid. Silence is still silence, the word keeps its meaning; but subjectively silence has been transformed into an inaudible form of speech. Unlike truth, which calls us to live in accordance with it, and falsehood which, once born, rejects all authority infests its progenitor, silence does not commit us. It is in our service. It is the only element of the speech which we can own. It is the mediator between speaking the truth and telling a lie - as when Truth seeks to impose responsibilities upon us, yet the price of a lie is too great to accept. It is at the same time the delicious fruit that we have still not eaten, and the piece of bread that we have not yet stolen from another. But it is also the ephemeral coffe we drink while watching on television how other people play a starring role in their own lives. ©
Diego Souto 1999. All rights reserved.
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