Illusions are incredible to me. I think guys like Cris Angel are amazing at their craft. I watch them and I think – How? No Way? I want to know the tr
uth. It is really powerful how these guys are able to hide the truth so well. They are masters at deception. This concept of hiding the truth and creating an illusion is one I see in my own life and in the life of many others. It is not about how to make it look like I was run over by a car or how someone else pushed a deck of cards into a block of ice, but instead about how we are fine when we are not. When we are hurting and we pretend all is well. When would clean up on the outside, but our souls feel dirty. It is an illusion. The family looks good. The right people do not know. But this is all because the truth is hidden. We put makeup on to cover up the scars or conceal the pain, but it is a fake. The lengths we go to keep the truth hidden? Sometimes, we end up saying, how did we do it so long or did they hide that so long.
What happens next is that eventually the code is cracked. The how to your and my illusion is broken and often there is more pain, hurt and destruction. We find out AIG is not making money. That he really loved her. That she really does not enjoy what she has been doing for years. That the smile is about as deep as a relationship carried out on Twitter. We can only keep up the game so long. Eventually the plates fall. So the bigger questions are why are we fake? Why do we put on the front? What are our fears? What do we gain by keeping the front up?
I must never forget that the truth sets me free. It set us all free. If you hurting share it. If you need help, ask. If it is broken, try and fix it. Duct tape will only last so long. Your how will come out and the illusion will end. What then?
A Pastor's Thoughts 
I think that sometimes we put on that front and a fake smile not for others but for ourselves. It’s easier to tell ourselves everything is good than to look at the facts. That maybe things are really bad. Maybe we did mess up. Maybe he doesn’t act that way out of love… I know that most people live the illusion so others don’t look down on them. But some folks may be concerned that friends or family would worry about them if they knew the truth. I know that there are shallow motivations to some facades but I hope that’s not the majority.
And I think finding freedom in God and his love for us is the only way out of this cage of false walls that we put around ourself and others.
This post really made me think and look at myself. Thank you…