Homily - Reality Has the Last Word

Why do sincere people so often believe things that simply are not true? This homily examines the Orthodox understanding of prelest, or spiritual delusion, and explains how the ascetical life of the Church gradually heals our perception of reality. In an age of curated news feeds and ideological echo chambers, Christ remains the only Truth in whom faith never collides with reality.  Enjoy the show.

Matthew 17:14-23

Faith is a wonderful thing—but only if it is faith in the right thing.

When I was a boy, I had an idea...[ the sword.]

At the time, it made perfect sense to me. I was convinced it would work. I probably defended the idea if anyone questioned it. But then reality got a vote. Wood doesn't care what I believe about it. Physics doesn't change because I'm sincere. The real world eventually reveals whether my idea was true or false.

Later, my friends and I had another great idea... [the boat.]

This one was even more interesting because it wasn't just my delusion—it was our delusion. We encouraged one another. We reinforced one another's confidence. The more we talked about it, the more certain we became. And then reality got a vote.

The boat either floated or it didn't. Reality always gets a vote.

This isn't just true of childhood adventures. It is true of every part of life.

Every one of us has what we might call a "good idea fairy" living in our head. Ideas occur to us. They seem plausible. We become attached to them. Then something even stronger happens. We begin to define ourselves by them.

God created our minds to recognize truth, but after the Fall our minds became vulnerable to self-deception. Once we become attached to an idea, we naturally notice evidence that supports it and explain away evidence that challenges it. Even worse, once our identity becomes wrapped up in that idea, disagreement begins to feel like a personal attack. Our passions become inflamed. We stop asking, "Is it true?" and begin asking, "Is it ours?"

The Fathers of the Church had a name for this long before modern psychology existed. They called it prelest—spiritual delusion. Prelest is not simply believing something false. It is the condition in which our desires, our pride, and our passions distort our perception of reality itself. We begin trusting ourselves more than God. We mistake our own thoughts for wisdom, our own feelings for discernment, and our own will for truth.