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Embracing Our Delusions

Embracing Our Delusions

Last updated on: November 26, 2024 at 3:52 pm by Keith Giles

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Embracing Our Delusions 2024-11-26T15:52:57+00:00 Keith Giles

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IMAGE: Keith Giles [MidJourney]

We all carry our little delusions, don’t we? Those stories we cling to, those beliefs we let shape our reality. Some of them are comforting, like a soft blanket on a cold day. Others are harmful, insidious little lies that wrap around us, shaping the way we see ourselves and the world.

Let’s talk about that, shall we?

Last week, someone shared a clip about cycles in history. You know, the kind of thing where you trace back events to certain “year of the snake” patterns: WWII, the Berlin Wall coming down, 9/11. It’s fascinating stuff—though you can’t help but wonder, are we just making connections where there are none?

Still, it got me thinking: maybe delusion isn’t just about being wrong. Maybe it’s about how we cope with the chaos of the unknown.

We’re all a bit delusional when it comes to reality. For centuries, humans believed the world was solid, immutable. But we now know it’s more energy than matter, right?

Yet, even with this knowledge, we fall back into old ways of thinking, acting like the ground beneath us is as unchanging as our belief systems.

It’s humbling, isn’t it? To realize how much we still don’t know, how much we might be fooling ourselves even now?

Delusions We Choose to Keep

Not all delusions are bad. Sometimes, they’re the buoy that keeps us afloat. Like the penny my mom finds on the ground and interprets as a message from my dad who’s passed on. Or the coin a friend sees as reassurance from God about her finances. Objectively, sure, they’re just coins. But for them? Those moments of meaning bring peace, comfort, and even joy.

Are those delusions? Perhaps. But they’re harmless, even helpful.

Contrast that with harmful delusions—beliefs that lock us into cycles of guilt, fear, or worse.

I remember a time when I truly believed my mistakes were damning me to hell. Imagine living like that, with the weight of eternal judgment pressing down on every decision.

That kind of delusion isn’t just unhealthy; it’s unbearable.

Collective Delusion: The Danger of “Us vs. Them”

But what about when delusion isn’t personal? What happens when whole groups, cultures, or nations buy into a shared delusion?

History is full of examples—religious wars, political ideologies, systems of oppression. These are the dangerous ones, the delusions that justify harm, that fuel division and hatred.

It’s easy to point fingers, isn’t it? To say, “Those people are deluded.” But maybe the harder question is: what collective delusions am I a part of? What narratives am I contributing to that might be harming others?

The Path Forward: From Delusion to Awareness

Here’s the thing: being delusional isn’t the problem. Staying there is.

What if we could hold our beliefs loosely, examining them, questioning them, even letting them go when necessary? What if we approached our faith, our politics, our understanding of the world with the humility to admit, “I might be wrong”?

The beauty of this journey is that it’s never about arriving. It’s about becoming—more aware, more conscious, more loving. And maybe, just maybe, it’s about embracing the mystery rather than clinging to certainty.

So, what are your delusions? Are they helping you or holding you back? Let’s sit with that for a while. Not to judge, but to grow.

After all, the only way to move forward is to start where we are, delusions and all.

The newest book from Keith Giles, “The Quantum Sayings of Jesus: Decoding the Lost Gospel of Thomas” is available now on Amazon. Order HERE>

Keith Giles is the best-selling author of the Jesus Un series. He has appeared on CNN, USA Today, BuzzFeed, and John Fugelsang’s “Tell Me Everything.”

He co-hosts The Heretic Happy Hour Podcast and his solo podcast, Second Cup With Keith which are both available on Spotify, Amazon, Apple, Podbean or wherever you find your podcast fix.

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