“You live in a dream; you manufacture illusions!” – Tennessee Williams

“Nothing real can be threatened.  Nothing unreal exists.  Herein lies the Peace of God.” – A Course in Miracles by Helen Schucman

“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. “– 1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT

Take a moment this evening to think about the events, circumstances and issues surrounding your life right now.  Think about them across all aspects of who you are – those involving family, relationships, career, health, and all other things that make up your life.  What has brought you to this current place you find yourself? 

What transpired in the past shaping their status?  Looking ahead, what concerns, or obstacles arise in your mind as you envision how each aspect of your life might unfold or change?

Think about the emotions that surface as you contemplate each of them.  Where do you feel angry or hurt?  Which situations have you confused or uncertain?  How many bring happiness and joy to mind?  What current circumstances instigate fear, anxiety, or worry?

Now, step away from those thoughts and view them from a different paradigm.  What if each were simply an illusion?  What if you were thinking about them in a way that was far from truthful or accurate?

The Oxford Languages Dictionary gives the following definition for “illusion”:  A thing that is or is likely to be wrongly perceived or interpreted by the senses.

I am not trying to tell you your life is a figment of your imagination or far from reality.  What I am suggesting is how we hang on to misconceptions – willingly embracing a form of deception about our life that is intrinsically a part of our human nature.  

Unfortunately, as a result, we live a life filled with illusions.  When we embrace the illusion as truth, we experience needless suffering.  We end up manufacturing even more of them in the process – believing things about others we shouldn’t, heading out in wrong directions, and placing importance on areas of our life that really hold no value.

Here are some examples:

Bringing the Past and Future into our Present

So much of our past is illusionary, meaning we often see it through a clouded, inaccurate lens.  We forget about important details that would reshape the entire outcome in our minds.  What we do end up inaccurately recalling, we embrace as truth.  We bring that illusion into our present world – allowing it to deceptively change us.

We recall the past divorce in a way that isn’t truthful – allowing that misinformation to shape how we view ourselves today.  We allow past abuse to manipulate our present life – falsely thinking we deserved it.  By doing so, we allow an illusion to define us.

In the same way, we foolishly lasso our illusionary futures – roping them and pulling them into our present moments.  There is nothing more illusionary than our dreams about what is to come!  Who can predict what lies ahead?

Yet, we allow those illusions to shape our present moments.  We worry about our health down the road, if our finances will hold out, or if our children will turn out to be ok.  We base our current fears, anxieties, and present uncertainties on an illusionary future we have created in our minds.

Think about how much of your life has been shaped or driven by mere illusions of what has happened or will happen?

Not Seeing Ourselves Truthfully

So often, we embrace the illusion that our temporal mind and body are permanent.  In turn, we see the truth of our permanent soul and spirit as illusionary.  We spin the truth of the matter entirely upside down!

We hold on to the illusion of lack when in truth we have all we will ever need to fulfill our purpose here.  We falsely believe the sickness or disability will be the end of us, when in fact we never cease to exist.  We embrace the illusion of loneliness instead of the truth we are never alone in what we face.  We cling to the deception that we must make things happen if they are to happen at all yet see divine guidance and providence as illusionary.  The illusions of fate and chance cloud the truth of a predestined, purpose-driven life.

A life of pride and ego centered on mind and body are delusional – hiding the truth that we are soul and spirit first and foremost – created by God in His image. 

I love how Helen Schuman implores us to realize that nothing real can be threatened.  The truth of who we really are spiritually can never be extinguished.  The lack, the sickness, the need to come up with all the answers, and the life filled with uncontrollable fate-driven events are indeed the illusions we must let go! 

Nothing unreal exists 😊

That clouded past or uncertain future are nothing but aberrations.  Realize who you truly are in the present moment – an eternal child of the Living God fully capable of all you were predestined to become.  Everything else is temporary – illusions that steer us away from the things that really exist and matter the most in this life.

 Without a doubt – Herein lies the Peace of God 😊