LOLA LIES

Larry and Lola. Lola lies. Don't be fooled, you can't trust either one of em'.

Larry and Lola. Don’t be fooled, you can’t trust either one of em’.

She’s not as dumb as she looks and he’s actually pretty smart. It’s hard to admit, but she’s outsmarted me more than once. You might think that just because Lola’s a dog that she can’t lie, but that’s not the case. Lola lies, she tries to pull off some whoppers, and getting caught doesn’t dissuade her a bit.

Lola likes to eat. My wife says Lola will eat anything that doesn’t eat her first, so far she’s right on the money. Lola knows when it’s dinner time and grabs her stuffed animal and starts biting and shaking it violently to ring her own dinner bell. She’ll also jump up and punch me with both paws to move me toward the pantry where her bag of dog food mocks her. It’s all cute and innocent, a daily routine that makes me swear she can tell time.

Now and then I’ll work late and someone else will get the honors to take their turn to be pushed over to the pantry and fulfill the little grey Lhasa Apso’s bidding. When I do show up tardy, and especially if no one else is around, Lola lies. She grabs her stuffed animal, bites and shakes it, and punches me with both paws.

“What does her want?” I ask in the same ritualistic and desperate whisper. She punches me again and I continue with our tradition bringing Larry into the routine, “Her just punched me Lar!” I say as I’m being herded toward the pantry.

More than once my wife has walked in and informed me, “I’ve already fed em’.” Now I can’t trust Lola the same way I can’t trust Larry in the house without a diaper on. “Her tells lies, Lar! – Lola lies!” I told him. Lola knows now when I say that to Lar that she’s not gonna dupe me again… that day anyway.

I wonder how many times I’ve lied without saying a word. The old adage can haunt an honest heart; “Actions speak louder than words.” It’s easy to portray ourselves in a way that will gain us something from someone else. We’re all sales people whether we want to admit it or not, I think.

The best actors and actresses are just sales people too. They earn Oscars and academy awards for selling themselves as believable characters. They get accolades and money usually follows, like extra dinner for Lola.

We tend to sell ourselves sometimes as people we want others to like, to accept, to get praise like we’ve won an Oscar for our role.

Striving to be the person we’re called to be based on Biblical principles is one thing, striving for a payoff is pride, the opposite of humility, it’s dishonesty, like Lola. Maybe not driven by hunger pangs, but the desire of the flesh all the same.

Lola hangs her head and mopes back to her dog bed after she gets stone cold busted. I can’t tell if she’s disappointed for not pulling off the caper or is feeling guilty… I just can’t tell her heart… the same as the rest of us.

Only God knows the heart and our motives… and if we’re acting and telling lies… like Lola.