I visited the USSR just months before it fell apart in 1991. The delusions presented by the ideals of Communism to keep its delusionary ideas afloat dissolved and finally dismantled the nation. Nothing lives forever if delusion is the foundation.

Today, we have delusions happening in our nation. A nation cannot survive propped up by falsehoods. There are examples of these delusions across the board. No matter how brutal a gender reassignment surgery is, a biological man can never become a woman or vice versa. In our current definition of inflation, the inflation rate does not include the cost of food or energy, the very places where inflation hits us the hardest. Financial advisors too young to have lived through the boom-and-bust times of the past are proclaiming a bright forever financial future while our nation is carrying a national debt load north of 34 trillion dollars, a debt we will never pay off and will lead to the collapse of our financial institutions.  We have opened our borders so wide there is almost no prohibition remaining against those who violate our national border. We are building our future with falsehoods.

Each of these examples I mentioned carries a spiritual application. Discerning the reality and negative impact of these issues will help us know how to pray and how to act. They also tell how these delusions will negatively affect the people we love, serve, and lead within the Church. We cannot live our faith separated from these issues because people are suffering under their influence. The Gospel has never been disconnected from the realities of life and our leaders’ deluded decisions that impact all of us. It is not enough to ignore these issues in hopes we can move on ignoring the consequences. The passing of the USSR took place rapidly on the world stage. So will the passing of other nations, even America, while we are being told all is well and there’s nothing to see here.

Our saving grace is the wisdom and redemptive love of God expressed in Scripture. That is our anchor point for all the choices we will make now and into the future. God’s wisdom will never fail us, but our deluded interpretation of life will. In the end, the passing of individuals, institutions, and governments, will happen quickly because a reality of life based on a delusion is not anchored in the never-failing truth of God’s word, but in the delusions of man.