We grow up breathing in lies the way a fish drinks water, not because we are evil, but because deception is built into the system that raised us. Every institution that touches us — school, media, government — was engineered not to empower, but to subdue. That’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s the oldest pattern of empire: shape the mind, and the body will follow.
It is terrifying to realize how much of what we believed was never ours. The harder truth is that waking up is only the beginning.
To really see the system is to feel it shatter inside you — the myths about good wars and bad enemies, the comforting illusion of free markets and benevolent leaders, the idea that cruelty is an accident rather than a feature.
Most people flinch at that first crack of cognitive dissonance and retreat. They want to believe in some part of the dream — an "honorable" military, a "necessary" war, a "bad" foreign enemy. Anything to avoid facing the void that opens when you stop believing. But the ones who walk through it — fully, trembling, furious, heartbroken — find the only thing worth finding: truth without anesthetic.
The courage to stop pretending is the first real breath you will ever take.
We are dying. Not someday, but now. The clock is not some distant thunder. It is beating under your skin.
And yet we waste our hours on pettiness, on resentments, on imaginary divisions. We waste it hating the wrong enemies, fragile and holy this absurd experience of living actually is.
Every grudge you carry is a handful of sand thrown into the only fire you will ever burn. Every moment spent hardening your heart is a moment ripped from the short, glittering dream of being alive.
The grave is not waiting somewhere far away. It is opening under your feet with every step.
And still — despite the terror, despite the futility — we could choose to reach out. We could choose to meet each other, in kindness, before the night falls.
>>"We grow up breathing in lies the way a fish drinks water, not because we are evil, but because deception is built into the system that raised us. Every institution that touches us — school, media, government — was engineered not to empower, but to subdue. That’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s the oldest pattern of empire: shape the mind, and the body will follow."
I was told by the Catholic clergy that people loved one another, as our car rolled past homeless people on the way to the convent.. I was also informed that God loved us and that if we wanted Hid help all we had to was ask…mmmmm! I tried to ask His help one day when the local bully took my new bike for a ride.. but somehow He never showed up… Mmmmm? Must have prayed to the wrong Guy…
Survival is the only way out, because when you are dead nothing matters, unless of course we have mounted a white horse on the way to heaven… furthermore, if you are under a
Mushroom cloud, your survival time will be less than the time it takes for you to blink… so much for observing the event…
it's not just who you pray to that makes you free.
It’s where your prayer leans:
Into blindness — or into truth.
Some lean into fear.
Some lean into power.
Some lean into silence.
And a few lean into the fire — awake, unafraid, and unbroken.
We stand with them.
If you’re ever near the wrong bar with the wrong crowd,
we’ll save you a seat.
First round’s on us.
Here’s to the wrong prayers, the wrong gods, and the right kind of awake.
Think it through, God, so great that He got Daniel out of the Lions den, got Jonah out of that Whales belly, and if that wasn’t enough………He got Giligaaaaaan OFF THAT ISLAND!
it's not just who you pray to that makes you free.
It’s where your prayer leans:
Into blindness — or into truth.
Some lean into fear.
Some lean into power.
Some lean into silence.
And a few lean into the fire — awake, unafraid, and unbroken.
We stand with them.
If you’re ever near the wrong bar with the wrong crowd,
we’ll save you a seat.
First round’s on us.
Here’s to the wrong prayers, the wrong gods, and the right kind of awake.
Think it through, God, so great that He got Daniel out of the Lions den, got Jonah out of that Whales belly, and if that wasn’t enough………He got Giligaaaaaan OFF THAT ISLAND!
Is this you John? Just make sure I’m talking to the right John here.” I was told by the Catholic clergy that people loved one another, as our car rolled past homeless people on the way to the convent.. I was also informed that God loved us and that if we wanted Hid help all we had to was ask…mmmmm! I tried to ask His help one day when the local bully took my new bike for a ride.. but somehow He never showed up… Mmmmm? Must have prayed to the wrong Guy…”
We grow up breathing in lies the way a fish drinks water, not because we are evil, but because deception is built into the system that raised us. Every institution that touches us — school, media, government — was engineered not to empower, but to subdue. That’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s the oldest pattern of empire: shape the mind, and the body will follow.
It is terrifying to realize how much of what we believed was never ours. The harder truth is that waking up is only the beginning.
To really see the system is to feel it shatter inside you — the myths about good wars and bad enemies, the comforting illusion of free markets and benevolent leaders, the idea that cruelty is an accident rather than a feature.
Most people flinch at that first crack of cognitive dissonance and retreat. They want to believe in some part of the dream — an "honorable" military, a "necessary" war, a "bad" foreign enemy. Anything to avoid facing the void that opens when you stop believing. But the ones who walk through it — fully, trembling, furious, heartbroken — find the only thing worth finding: truth without anesthetic.
The courage to stop pretending is the first real breath you will ever take.
We are dying. Not someday, but now. The clock is not some distant thunder. It is beating under your skin.
And yet we waste our hours on pettiness, on resentments, on imaginary divisions. We waste it hating the wrong enemies, fragile and holy this absurd experience of living actually is.
Every grudge you carry is a handful of sand thrown into the only fire you will ever burn. Every moment spent hardening your heart is a moment ripped from the short, glittering dream of being alive.
The grave is not waiting somewhere far away. It is opening under your feet with every step.
And still — despite the terror, despite the futility — we could choose to reach out. We could choose to meet each other, in kindness, before the night falls.
It is the only thing left that matters.
Yes, we are born into an ocean of lies,
no more aware than fish in water.
Deception is our trade.
Lies are our mortar.
We build everything with it.
The younger generations are our apprentices.
It’s not a conspiracy theory.
It’s older than empire.
Gladiators. Bread. Circus.
Win the crowd.
Keep them afraid.
It always works.
Dare to wake up
It might tear you apart.
Easier to go back to sleep.
Easier to live with the ignorance of bliss
than to live with the agony of knowing.
But if you do awaken,
behold: there are islands of truth.
Growing a spine, learning to stand
it’s an evolution.
It takes courage, conviction,
and an immense amount of time.
If you find yourself ashore on an island of reality,
build carefully.
Mix your mortar with only truth.
For the ocean's tidal forces are great,
and the waves of lies are relentless.
Whatever is built with lies
will be washed away.
👏👏👏 Deep, and so much to reflect on. Thank you!
>>"We grow up breathing in lies the way a fish drinks water, not because we are evil, but because deception is built into the system that raised us. Every institution that touches us — school, media, government — was engineered not to empower, but to subdue. That’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s the oldest pattern of empire: shape the mind, and the body will follow."
💯 Well said!
I was told by the Catholic clergy that people loved one another, as our car rolled past homeless people on the way to the convent.. I was also informed that God loved us and that if we wanted Hid help all we had to was ask…mmmmm! I tried to ask His help one day when the local bully took my new bike for a ride.. but somehow He never showed up… Mmmmm? Must have prayed to the wrong Guy…
They taught us to believe in a love that never had any skin in the game.
It's easier to preach kindness from behind locked doors than to bleed for a stranger on the street.
Some prayers were never meant to be answered — they were meant to wake us up.
If the 12,000 nuclear warheads ready to be dropped on our loving ways don’t “wake us up”, nothing ever will.
Maybe survival isn't the real test.
Maybe the real test is whether we can wake up — even if survival isn't guaranteed.
If the world ends in flames, better to be awake enough to witness it for what it is, than to sleep through the final lie.
Survival is the only way out, because when you are dead nothing matters, unless of course we have mounted a white horse on the way to heaven… furthermore, if you are under a
Mushroom cloud, your survival time will be less than the time it takes for you to blink… so much for observing the event…
Even if the blink is all we get, it matters whether we blink awake or asleep.
Survival is a moment. Awareness is a choice.
Even if the blink is all we get, it matters whether we blink awake or asleep.
Survival is a moment. Awareness is a choice.
Even if the blink is all we get, it matters whether we blink awake or asleep.
Survival is a moment. Awareness is a choice.
Wrong prayer.
Right prayer, wrong prayer, god or God —
it's not just who you pray to that makes you free.
It’s where your prayer leans:
Into blindness — or into truth.
Some lean into fear.
Some lean into power.
Some lean into silence.
And a few lean into the fire — awake, unafraid, and unbroken.
We stand with them.
If you’re ever near the wrong bar with the wrong crowd,
we’ll save you a seat.
First round’s on us.
Here’s to the wrong prayers, the wrong gods, and the right kind of awake.
Think it through, God, so great that He got Daniel out of the Lions den, got Jonah out of that Whales belly, and if that wasn’t enough………He got Giligaaaaaan OFF THAT ISLAND!
Or wrong God….
Right prayer, wrong prayer, god or God —
it's not just who you pray to that makes you free.
It’s where your prayer leans:
Into blindness — or into truth.
Some lean into fear.
Some lean into power.
Some lean into silence.
And a few lean into the fire — awake, unafraid, and unbroken.
We stand with them.
If you’re ever near the wrong bar with the wrong crowd,
we’ll save you a seat.
First round’s on us.
Here’s to the wrong prayers, the wrong gods, and the right kind of awake.
Think it through, God, so great that He got Daniel out of the Lions den, got Jonah out of that Whales belly, and if that wasn’t enough………He got Giligaaaaaan OFF THAT ISLAND!
God is a male according to your descriptions. …. He ??? Who would have thought God would choose to be a male? Patriarchy at work in heaven ???
Is this you John? Just make sure I’m talking to the right John here.” I was told by the Catholic clergy that people loved one another, as our car rolled past homeless people on the way to the convent.. I was also informed that God loved us and that if we wanted Hid help all we had to was ask…mmmmm! I tried to ask His help one day when the local bully took my new bike for a ride.. but somehow He never showed up… Mmmmm? Must have prayed to the wrong Guy…”