“Have you been flossing?” — Truth decay

She asked me the question, and I could not lie.

Myrna, I will floss more. I promise.

Myrna, the sweet hygienist that I’ve seen for years is passionate about tooth care. She has a lifetime invested in this profession. So on Wednesday, I went for my scheduled cleaning. I tried to relax, while she lovingly scraped, poked and prodded my gums until I spit blood. It was for my own good, I reminded myself.

Every six months, she asks the same question. “Have you been flossing.”

The truth this time was, “no.”

I could have told her a lie to save me from the coming sermon. I could have bent the truth, telling her “not as often as I should,” or “I always eat at work,” or “I have a woman at home who does it for me.”

But I could not. She only wanted me to have healthy teeth. And most of all, she knows the truth. After running her instruments through the cravaces of my teeth, she knows whether I’ve been flossing or not. Why lie when she knows the truth?

I’ve not always been a truth teller, more concerned with reputation than character. But truth, I’ve found, is liberating. It frees me to deal with my weakness, instead of hiding and cowering behind a facade.

Myrna’s question kind of reminds me of the question God posed Adam in the garden. “Where are you, Adam,” after he and Eve had taken a bite more than they could chew. Hiding in the trees, naked, ashamed and afraid, God knew exactly where they were. He knew what they had done. He knew the consequences. And still, He asked.

I still get asked those kinds of questions from God:
What are you doing?
Where are you going?
What are you thinking?
What is your direction?

He knows all the answers, and by asking me the obvious, He’s hoping I come to my senses.

And yes, I flossed tonight.

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