Reading Jesus: Part VIII-- Addicted to Illusions
"Sometimes I can't help the feeling that I'm
Living a life of illusion
And oh, why can't we let it be
And see thru the hole in this wall of confusion
I just can't help the feeling I'm
Living a life of illusion
Hey, don't you know it's a waste of your day
Caught up in endless solutions
That have no meaning, just another hunch
Based upon jumping conclusions
Caught up in endless solutions
Backed up against a wall of confusion
Living a life of illusion" Joe Walsh, 1980
Illusion: something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality.
Have you ever binged on excitement only to come off the high four days later?
As I Read Jesus, I think a huge part of his mission on this planet was to lead us to a place where we can stop living a life of illusion; to break our addiction to fantasy of self and those illusions that lead us into our addictions: the false realities that attempt to remove our pain, such as "success", relationships, or even heroin, and even some of the mystification that occurs in our religion.
Jesus lived from the internal state of his authentic self; his relationship to God-- the Kingdom within.
He was not deluded by illusions, and when he began to confront illusions: beliefs, faulty ideas, and unhealthy attitudes he pulled the veil and identified the illusions for what they were-- the very things that lead us away from God, oursleves, and others.
Illusions have consequences.
We pretend that what God can't see won't hurt him and build a case of rationalization and justification for our addicted states or illusions.
I can fall into the illusion of living a role instead of a life. I cannot move away from God and find my true self, yet sometimes I'd live as though I am in a ongoing David Copperfiled show. I can be deluded by my illusions-- my false self. It is easy to play Houdini with our lives as if we can escape reality through fantasy. It seems folks are often in the conquest of the next great high under the illusion of excitement, achievement, and "conquests", when in reality we seem to only be attempting to escape the deeper underlying feelings in our soul.
Illusions seem real,
but are only an escape
that back us into a wall of confusion.
Jesus named realities.
4 Comments:
Rick, Amen!
I'm so happy that you have the guts to tell people what most don't want to hear.
As I see it, only when we accept that we created our own illusions and are responsible for them and what they cause can we finally begin our journey home. After a while we will come to realize that we actually have nowhere to go because we never left. Only our own confusion of judgment made it seem that we did.
Amen, Rick, Amen!
(All my Amen's just show my joy in reading what you write.)
matt
good conversation fodder.
as much as you talk about reading Jesus, why not talk about what he said. you write more from song lyrics than what Jesus said.
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. NO MAN comes to the Father but through Me."
lets talk about that for a bit.
this is my faith journey.
Thom
Thom, the faith journey you are on is a good one.
As I see it, when Jesus said that we can only come to the Father through him, I believe that he meant that only by us becoming one with the Love of God, which is the Christ, could we gain admission to where the Father is. That is why Jesus was one with the Father, because through all his thoughts and actions but finally in rejecting the temptations to use his power to control the world for himself he had become the Christ to show us the way.
The only way anyone can become the Christ Love is by always thinking of the needs of others first. I don't personally know anyone that altruistic, but we should continue to strive to be that.
That's my understanding of Jesus' words you mentioned.
Peace.
matt
Dear Matt and Thom,
Thanks for your comments and for sharing a part of your faith journey here.
I think sharing one's journey; one's story is a healthy way to dialogue.
Thom, a couple of things:
One, this is my blog and my journey. Please read it only if you want. I am not here to get you to believe like me.
Two, this may be more about me and my journey and not you, but when I read what you write I get a feeling of someone who wants to confront, not in a spirit of love, but more from a sense of being "right". It doesn't feel like a person who is seeking to share the love of Christ in his heart with others. That may not be your intentions, but that has been my experience of you. Like I said, it is probably more about me than you, but that is the way it feels to me.
Third, I think "Blogger" is still allowing folks to start a blog, so perhaps you could create your own blog and write about whatever you think is appropriate. I encourage you to do so for you seem to have some things to say that are stirring inside you.
Fourth, you really are loved by God, perhaps in away you cannot imagine. I hope you come to a place in your heart and soul, that the experience of Jesus as the way, truth and life to God, that you will discover the compassion of God in your own life so that you can be the loving, compassionate "little Christ" on this planet to yourself and others.
Thanks again for sharing your comments.
"Walk in love, as He first loved us."
Rick
Post a Comment
<< Home