Dear Montecito Rotary Friends,

“Always tell the truth, George. It’s the easiest thing to remember.”

The irony of this line from David Mamet’s play, Glengarry Glen Ross, is that it has little to do with ethics. The desperate real-estate salesmen, ready to swindle their investors, don’t want to jeopardize a sale by being caught in a lie. 

In contrast, Rotary’s 4-Way Test is all about ethics, though it also begins with an easy question to remember: Is it the truth? 

Such a simple question, yet it raises a host of issues, not least of which is: Is there such a thing? Aren’t there different truths? We live in a time when many people claim that their version, their view, is the truth, even when there is evidence to the contrary. We’re tempted to become cynical, doubting anyone’s sole claim to truth, even truth itself.

Yet the 4-Way Test’s first question disagrees. It holds us to a high standard, because truth creates trust. It’s the glue that holds us together as friends, as people who care about community, even the community of nations.

I’m grateful for the 4-Way Test. Like you, I need to be reminded of what I need to remember.