To lie or not to lie

It is an imperfect world where there are perfect liars. We all lied at one point of our lives. All sorts of petty, negligible lies, and sometimes big and silly ones. But most of us know when we lie. But we’re sorry for them. We’re sorry we lie about our age, that we have what we don’t have, that we have more than we have, that we have less than what we say we have, that we are in Guadalupe even if we are in Cubao late for a meeting in Makati, that we are wearing some branded item even if it’s fake, that we are there even if we are here. And this list can go on and on. But we stop, laugh and we repent. And we try not to lie again until the next chance comes along.

And some of us go to confession and get punished by praying a string of Our Fathers and Hail Marys. And there are those who live in lies, those who believe in their own lies, who create and invent them to advance their agenda and destroy people. And there are people whose truth are lies, they often tell as soon as they crawl in and out of bed. These are pathological liars. They don’t last but the pain they inflict on people hurt deeply.

Who are pathological liars? “A pathological liar is defined as someone who lies incessantly to get his way and does so with little concern for others. Pathological lying is often viewed as a coping mechanism developed in early childhood and is often associated with some other type of mental health disorder. A pathological liar is often goal-oriented (i.e., lying is focused — it is done to get one’s way). Pathological liars have little regard or respect for the rights and feelings of others. A pathological liar often comes across as being manipulative, cunning and self-centered.”

When you are face to face with a lie about you is delivered like it were biblical truth, crafted with demonic logic — you seethe in anger. Because you know the truth. Yet there will be an audience no matter how negligible for this despicable fallacy. You become angry that you swear in God’s name and in your father’s grave, for people to see the gravity of your pain. Your heart bleeds, your spirit wails in exasperation and you ask why? What have I done to deserve such cruelty? And the only answer is you are the victim of evil, callous, manipulative, envious, lonely and sick minds. But do you hit back? Do you spew invectives at the perpetrator’s face ? Do you smash his head with an arnis stick? Do you slap him with court cases filed at the Tubattaha Reef with the corals and sharks so unheard the libelous rap? Or do you pray for guidance and humility and courage to forgive?

I am blessed with tenacity to endure pain both deserved and viciously inflicted. But there are limits to this capacity. Human that I am, it can be wearisome to forever be the meek one, the one who should forgive, understand, let go and should just let karma take its course. It can be frustrating that to be a fairly decent human being, you are supposed to keep quiet in pain. You are expected not to stoop to the level of the diabolic, anyway the truth will come out and no one believes the monger. Meanwhile suffer the pain and you try really hard to let go.

But you can only take so much vilification inflicted by pathological liars. You can only take so much crucifixion. And forgiving does not steal your right to defend yourself and to seek justice. Doing nothing about abuse and lying is perpetuating the vicious act and in a way condoning it.

At a certain point, you have to fight back justly. The laws of God and man allow you to protect your body and soul from oppressors.

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Atlantis Productions kicks off its 10th Anniversary Season with the Tony Award winning musical the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and it will feature numerous cast members from the recent hit staging of Avenue Q in Singapore.

Carla Guevarra-Laforteza, Felix Rivera, Richard Everley, Thea Everley and Joel Trinidad, who all received rave reviews during the Singapore run of Avenue Q last November, head the stellar cast of Spelling Bee, which also features theater veterans Cathy Azanza, Johan dela Fuente, Pheona Baranda and Noel Rayos, all who have done shows with Atlantis in the past.

Bobby Garcia, who recently directed the hit production of Hairspray, says, “To kick off our 10th anniversary, we wanted to gather a cast that has done shows with Atlantis before. Spelling Bee is one of the most charming and heartwarming musicals I’ve come across and it’s a thrill to have them all in the show.”

No two Spelling Bee shows will be alike, as Spelling Bee will feature “starring roles” each night for two volunteer audience members and two surprise celebrity guest spellers.

In Spelling Bee, with music and lyrics by Tony Award winner William Finn (Falsettos, A New Brain) and a book by Rachel Sheinkin, six young people in the throes of puberty, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learn that winning isn’t everything and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser. Spelling Bee has been hailed by the Wall Street Journal as “perfect in every possible way — that rarity of rarities, a super-smart musical that is also a bona fide crowd pleaser.” This tuneful, offbeat, and at times heartwarming show offers audience members the opportunity (strictly voluntary) to become part of the action as on-stage spellers. The New York Times calls Spelling Bee “irresistible, riotously funny and remarkably ingenious — gold stars all around.”

Spelling Bee runs from March 20 to April 4 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City. It has choreography by Chari Arespacochaga, set design by Tuxqs Rutaquio, lighting design by Johnsy Reyes, costume design by Twinkle Zamora, projection design by GA Fallarme and musical direction by Jojo Malferari.

(For tickets to Spelling Bee call Atlantis Productions at 892-7078 or 840-1187.)