When the Illusions Break
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“The truth will set you free—but first it will shatter your illusions.” — Often attributed to Richard Rohr
We are living through a profound unraveling—not only of the systems we rely on, but of the very stories we’ve been taught to believe about ourselves.
For generations, we’ve inherited a myth of separateness. It tells us we are autonomous individuals, each responsible for forging our own way through life. In that story, freedom is defined as detachment. Identity is something we build on our own. Safety comes from control. Success proves our worth.
This narrative has shaped our economy, our politics, our relationships, even our spirituality. And yet, as the pressure mounts—from ecological collapse to rising authoritarianism—it is becoming clear that the scaffolding holding this story together is breaking.
The myth of the sovereign self can no longer carry the weight of our collective longing.
In its place, a more honest story is emerging, one we’ve always known, somewhere beneath the noise. No one comes into being alone. Our lives are bound together in ways more mysterious and more beautiful than we’ve been taught to see. Every breath is a gift of shared air. Every idea is shaped by those who came before us. Every act of courage is bolstered by unseen support.
At first, recognizing this feels disorienting. It shakes the foundations of everything we thought we could control. We realize we can’t earn our way out of vulnerability. We see that meritocracy is a myth. The world does not revolve around our will. There’s grief in that clarity. But there’s also grace.
When the illusions fall away, we begin to see what was always there: the web of relationship that holds us. The “we” that has been carrying us all along.
This unraveling is not a failure. It is a form of initiation, a sacred breaking open. It invites us to step out of the architecture of ego and into the messy, interdependent, astonishing fullness of life. Not in abstraction—but in real, embodied relationship. With one another. With the Earth. With the Divine, however we name it.
Freedom, it turns out, isn’t about rising above. It’s about being in right relationship—within ourselves, with others, and with the more-than-human world. It’s not an escape from reality. It’s a deeper surrender to it.
When the unraveling comes—whether in our personal lives or in our collective systems—it may feel like collapse. But sometimes, what collapses was never whole to begin with. What looks like death may actually be the painful beginning of a more honest life.
What if this is the moment we stop trying to hold it all together?
What if this is the moment we begin to live differently—not from illusion, but from belonging?
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
What illusions about control or separateness are unraveling for you right now?
How do you experience interdependence in your daily life—perhaps in ways you’ve taken for granted?
What kind of freedom becomes possible when we surrender the fantasy of going it alone?
A Prayer for the Day
For the Beauty Beneath the Breaking
Holy One, we confess that we have believed the myth of separateness. We’ve tried to hold it all together, to earn our way into safety, to control the outcomes of a life that was never meant to be lived alone. Now, as the world shakes and old stories fall apart, we feel the ache of disillusionment. We grieve what we thought was true. We feel lost without the scaffolding that once made sense of things. And yet, beneath the fragments, we begin to sense something deeper—a pulse of connection, a thread of belonging that we did not create but that has always held us. Meet us there. Help us trust the unraveling. Help us let go with grace, and find the courage to live from what’s real: a life bound in love, a world made for mutual care, a future we can only build—together. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Tracing the Threads
Choose one area of your life—your work, your home, your health, your morning cup of coffee.
Take a moment to reflect on all the people, systems, and relationships that make this one thing possible.
Who planted, picked, or delivered what you enjoy?
Who mentored or supported you in unseen ways?
What natural elements or ancestral stories are woven into this moment?
Let each thread you name become an offering of gratitude. Let each realization soften your heart toward the truth: you are not, have never been, and never will be—alone.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
SOLD OUT!!! July 20-25, 2025 - The Art of Wilding: A 5-Day Expedition in Wyoming for Women Leaders. Click here to learn more in case you want to come next year!
REGISTRATION OPEN! August 11, 2025, 2pm ET - Dr. Andrew Root and I will be hosting a 6 part series on Spirituality in the Secular Age based on his research. The dates are August 11, 18, September 8, 15, and October 6, 13. Register here!
September 4, 4:30pm ET - I will be collaborating with the Anderson Forum for Progressive Theology to host a conversation with Thomas Jay Oord on Open and Relational theology. It’s a FREE event. Register here.
October 15-18, 2025 - Converging 2025: Sing Truth Conference (all musicians invited!) at Northwest Christian Church in Columbus, OH. Register here!
I drafted a Strategic Framework for Congregations as we move into the coming years of increased authoritarianism around the world. If interested, you can download it here.
If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.
I love your writing, Cameron. It is essential to the work of cultivating love and a deep and reverent consciousness of oneness.
There is such wisdom in your words! Once we fully realize that we are ensouled beings held in the arms of a vast Soul that knows each one of us intimately from the inside out, then our reverence for the interconnectedness of all beings comes into view as one sacred beautiful truth !