The Odor of Mendacity

I wonder if any of my Composition class students remember this "odor of mendacity" phrase from the textbook for the class.  The word mendacity appeared somewhere in the vocabulary lists for one of the chapters.  It means "untruth" or "lie."  The phrase in the title has a sinister-sounding ring and captures my imagination.  It was apparently used in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof which first aired in 1955--long before the class textbook was published.

I thought of the "odor of mendacity" today in connection with my recent choice of a  dental services provider.  I selected the dentist who, in my opinion, had the lowest levels in the "odor of mendacity" department.

I had the same dentist for about 35 years.  I first went to him when he was brand new in the practice of dentistry and I was a new mother.  I liked his work.  He was fast and gentle.  I followed him to his new location in Hutchinson, and he and his staff eventually provided dental care for our whole family.  He and his wife were having babies about the same time we were, and he was understanding when one of our children needed to get off the treatment chair to go to the bathroom. 

Somewhere along the line we gathered that all was not well in the dentist's personal life.  We heard rumors of an affair, and he and his wife were subsequently divorced.  Our neighbor did some work for him and garnered a DUI on his way home when the job and the celebration afterward were over.  Financial issues surfaced.  Gambling and misuse of funds were involved.  Finally the dental practice closed because of some of these matters. 

Hiromi was in the middle of getting dental work done when this happened, so he promptly transferred to another dentist in town so the work could be finished.  My dental work had been all caught up so I waited a bit to start elsewhere.  To my great astonishment, during this time our original dentist reopened his practice in the same location as before. 

Going back to my old dentist looked ever-so-easy.  I had already, however, begun some preliminary moves (transfer of records) toward seeing Dentist B who Hiromi was seeing.  Should I reverse course and stick with what was familiar?

In the end my decision came down to choosing the dentist whose personal values most nearly aligned with mine.  Dentist B is a person of faith, and he was a homeschool dad during our homeschooling years.  I was reasonably sure that none of the vices that had dogged my old dentist would show up with Dentist B.

I feel really sad for our old dentist.  In the time I've known him, he has gone from being successful and full of promise to experiencing a broken marriage, disgrace and serious consequences for his failures.   That has to be brutally painful. 

I'm obviously not responsible to fix his problems though, and, in the end,  I decided that the "odor of mendacity" was strong enough that continuing with him was not worth the risk.  I saw Dentist B for the first time recently. 

Following current events of late has necessitated thinking about what is true and knowable in the face of wildly divergent narratives about our president's motivations and conduct.  We have well-known Christian leaders labeling Christians who sense an "odor of mendacity" as being under demonic influence.  We have sober individuals with long records of credible public service in non-partisan roles--with unknown religious persuasions--who have testified that they witnessed what they believe to be criminal behavior. 

I  wish sorting this out were as inconsequential as choosing a dentist--where the "odor of mendacity" was enough to tip the scales for me.  I hope that those involved in impeachment proceedings have the ability to discern truth and the courage to act on it.  Till now I haven't thought of praying that they also have high-functioning olfactory senses, but if the "odor of mendacity" is present and points to truth, I hope they can smell it.