Illusion

Valerie Cullers 22 Comments

red-carpet-1842850_640photo by Alexas Fotos. Courtesy of Pixabay.

Last week, I was listening to a woman speak to a large audience. She had been dealing with cancer and had gone through chemotherapy. I knew she had lost her hair and was amazed at how good she looked. Her hair was beautiful and her skin was glowing. I thought, “Wow, she looks so healthy!” The next day I was able to look at her up close and realized she had on a wig and pretty heavy makeup. It was all an illusion. Who knows what she really looked like without the wig and the makeup? She certainly was well enough to speak to a large audience but had not progressed to the point that she looked like she had previously.

Have you ever looked at a model and thought, “She is just beautiful.” Later when you see her without her makeup, false eyelashes and wig, she looks pretty much like everyone else. You realize you were looking at an illusion, an image that was being projected. The thing about illusions is that we are looking at them all of the time. When we watch a television show or a movie, we are watching an illusion. The people are not really in a war, hospital or home. They are on a set creating an illusion. The industry has become so good at it that we don’t need our imaginations anymore to help us believe what we are seeing. The illusion looks like reality.

When I was growing up, my father used to say, “Believe half of what you see and nothing of what you hear.” I understood the hearing part but I struggled with the seeing part. Now, I am beginning to understand. Much of what I see is an illusion that is being projected as reality. In the case of television programs and movies, that is a given. However, when I look at people, that is not always a given. I need to look closer at them and attempt to see below the surface. Only then will I have a better understanding of what I am seeing. What about you? How’s your vision? Are you able to see a bit of reality beyond the illusion?

22 thoughts on “Illusion”

  2. Well, either I see too much reality, or I perceive things wrong. It really can go either way with me, and to be honest, I’m getting very confused.

    I think I need to pray to see things more as God sees, though I don’t think I want to be able to see quite everything that He sees because my head and my heart couldn’t take it.

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  4. So very true. These delusions are why many in our world are so discontent. They believe what they see and wonder why they don’t have it in their own lives. Very sad. I agree with Ryan, we all need to be using the discernment that God has given us to see through the lies.

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  5. You scared me with “what does she look like without makeup?!” That used to be me, and then I realized, as I got older, I was better off without it, and when I glow Jesus, I am more beautiful! Of course, the face cream I use doesn’t hurt either!

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  6. ” I need to look closer at them and attempt to see below the surface. ” Look inward instead. Even if the Illusion isn`t “real” it will get you to fall into the passions of either lust, envy, depression…

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