In this blog post I will reveal the nature of my October 1 subterfuge. Several people (including by way of e-mail) have been crafty enough to nudge at some aspects of the “mislead,” but so far no one has shaken the mysterious kitty fully out of its burlap sack.
So what’s the deal? Well, first of all, the written material I composed in Granny Smith Apples, Tea, and a “Mislead” is true. Secondly, my still-life photo is certainly of green apples beside a teacup and saucer combination.
“Now, wait a second,” you might ask, “if the picture is as it appears to be and your brief essay is factual, how are we being misled?”
Please read on.
Okay, about the October 1 still-life picture…. The tea cup and saucer combination is actually the same size as the miniature one I’m holding with my fingertips in today’s photo. And the apple perched on that tiny cup is the same size and variety as the fruit (small green crab apples from our own tree) in the earlier image. Of course, the apple in my right hand is a fresh, crisp, full-size Granny Smith…yum!
Now about the written material…. My composition about Granny Smith apples and properly brewed, truly-hot tea is factual (and I hope informative). Yet, what happens for most people is that as they look at the photo and read the article, they naturally, but mistakenly assume that the visual image accurately depicts the message of the story!
A statement I’d like to add here is that people who truly know me will usually confirm that while on the one hand I’m obviously an imperfect human being—and sometimes an annoying one at that—dishonesty and manipulation do not appear to be among my besetting sins. However, by reflecting on this “apples and tea” item, I believe we might detect one subtle factor in our occasionally being led astray from the truth: a person whom we mistakenly think we can trust might easily contrive to take us in wrong directions.
It is my earnest prayer, of course, that by God’s grace I will always be worthy of the trust my family and close friends tend to place in me.
So although to borrow the words of Paul’s confession to the Corinthians, “…being crafty, I caught you with guile” (2 Corinthians 12:16) actually creating any kind of deceit really does go sharply against the better side of my Christian character. But, yes, here I must confess that in Granny Smith Apples, Tea, and a “Mislead” this man you also probably trust has—albeit for the ultimate purpose of “providing a practical lesson”—resorted to uncharacteristic subterfuge.
In a future icf.io blog entry I will provide that promised “practical lesson remarkably well illustrated” by today’s and last week’s postings.
Love to all again from Grahame
