Last week I had a chapter 3 experience, without going to the Fair—although some would accuse the national media of being a circus. The following story attests to that, as well being a vivid illustration of what Tim experienced at the Fair that day.

The news story I heard sounded interesting so I walked into the living room to watch. But as I listened I found out it was anything but a legitimate news story. The man being interviewed was well-groomed and appeared to be serious—kind of. As the interviewer confronted the man with background-check information done on him, proving that he was a fraud and his statements were bogus, the man stayed very calm and appeared to be agreeing as he nodded his head. While not admitting that he and his company were a sham, he also didn’t really argue it.

As I thought about the interview later, it was almost laughable in its ridiculous assertions. But there was something about this guy that reminded me of the tempter at the Fair in chapter 3 of The Bridge from OneDayBow. And now that I think about it, the interviewer had something in common with Tim: When Tim started his conversation with the tempter, he already knew the tempter was a fraud.

I guess we should ask some questions: Why did Tim go back to the Fair? Why was he trying to get more bobbles? And why start up a conversation with a tempter? The first two questions can probably be answered by human nature that doesn’t easily let go of what is familiar, even if you know it isn’t true. But I think Tim may have had the same motive that the interviewer had in wanting to expose a deceiver.

As for the man and the tempter: both seemed to enjoy the attention; both were sticking to their story; and both were creative with their lies. And in the end both of them made a statement about truth.

The tempter ended his outrageous spiel with: “Don’t bother your mind with facts. Truth doesn’t matter here.” The man being interviewed made the same basic assertion when he said, “… It’s pretty darn easy these days to say whatever you want on national TV and have it pass off as truth, and, you know, it’s… I don’t know… it’s pretty incredible to me how easy it was to get the coverage we got—by the way I’m not saying that any of this is a hoax or isn’t true…” (I eliminated some uh’s and umm’s for readibilty, but I aimed to quote him accurately. If I’m going to promote journalistic honesty, it starts with me!)

The interviewer was laughing as he finished, knowing that he had exposed a fraud. In a sense, truth won out. Tim on the other hand wasn’t laughing. Many around him were as he became a joke to the willingly deceived, but there wasn’t anything funny about it to Tim. Strangely, truth did have a small victory at the Fair that day: Tim became more determined to find out what is real.

“Make your own reality” is a popular statement these days, but is it true? If it’s not, do you want to know? I’ll speak for Tim and me: Truth does matter here!