A good lie is 95 percent true.

After all, if it’s too obviously false, like,

The first lie told, is still the best one. We keep falling for it. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden by Wenzel Peter

“Negative thoughts have a magnetic force that causes them to glow and pulsate. Attracted by the light, people gravitate toward the thoughts, physically run into them, and get migraine headaches,” then people rightly say,

Bosh.

But if we alter the statement, subtly, we get,

“Negative thoughts are bad, and when you think or express them, you will frequently experience the very thing you’re afraid of.”

Have you heard that one, or a variation of it, before? And do you believe it?

I hope you spot it for the lie that it is. It’s a good lie — one of those 95-percenters, but a lie that too many people internalize and believe. Please read the rest of the story at Negative Thoughts: Deny the Lie at my BeliefNet blog, Commonsense Christianity.