Vachon Imagined

You see it every day in advertising: the promise of security, the money-back guarantee, the good guys who swear they’ll never lie. We all get drawn into it—eyes wide, heart racing. It’s natural. But it is also an illusion.

Test it. Test it the way a scientist tests a theory. Before perception, judgment, and emotion rush in to explain your experience, hold them at bay for a moment and simply observe.

How many times have you fallen for the angel only to discover the angel wasn’t quite what it seemed?

The world of the known is always making promises. It promises inspiration, motivation, belonging, certainty. It invites us to fall in love. And for a while, it’s bliss. Then, as with everything, the masks begin to fall. People reveal the fullness of who they are, and they disappoint us, just as every money-back guarantee eventually reaches its fine print.

Our hearts, unfortunately, don’t come with a money-back guarantee.

And why would they? Why would we expect the same world that wounded us to be the one that heals us? Even to a scientist, that doesn’t pass the test of logic.

What this world does offer is the opportunity to witness ourselves—to notice excitement as it arises, to see the fantasies we weave, to feel ourselves being carried away by emotion. Not to condemn any of it, but to let it be there.

Just for one moment.

Dance in the sweetness of love while it is still unfolding, before the mind possesses it, before longing turns it into a story. Dance with it. Enjoy it. But don’t mistake the feeling for the truth.

Remain grounded in the heart of God—the place that unifies all things, that isn’t persuaded by fear or seduced by promise. From there comes the steady hand that helps you choose wisely and remain faithful to the promise that existed long before you were given a name, long before you became someone in the eyes of the world.