It’s been almost 22 months since the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic, a catastrophic turn that upended life as we knew it.

Almost overnight, offices emptied out, businesses shut down and schools and churches were forced to go online, if at all. “Fifteen days to flatten the curve” turned to months and then a year as health and political officials worked furiously to get a handle on the evolving crisis, especially when there were more questions than answers.

Over time, response to the pandemic turned political as “red” and “blue” states attacked the virus in disparate ways – simultaneously incurring both wrath and praise from critics and local residents. Depending upon the month, one approach seemed more effective than the other.

As we approach the two-year mark of a virus blamed for over 800,000 domestic deaths and well over 5 million worldwide, the vast majority of Americans are learning to live with the threat of the evolving illness. Travel has rebounded, sport stadiums are filling up, restaurants are busy again and the vast majority of schools are open for in-person learning.

At the same time, one key and vital area that seems to be lacking in the rebound is church. According to the Barna Group, attendance is still down between 30% and 50% prior to the beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020.

Former president Ronald Reagan once quipped, “The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”

President Reagan’s wit and wisdom are just a couple of the reasons why he’s remembered so fondly by millions.

But, dare I try to improve upon the Gipper’s quip, I’d contend his statement should be broadened beyond the binary of “liberal” and “conservative.”

For we live in an age shaped and created by unreality. Many of us believe and shape our lives around “so much that isn’t so,” not just liberals.

Indeed, there are vast swaths of Americans on both sides of the political aisle, red and blue, who live in an ill-conceived world that’s controlled and contrived. A world that’s unreal.

Our technological advancements and modern-day trinkets take our ability to live in a made-up world to the next level. This collective tendency to live in a world made of our own devices traces back to our first parents, Adam and Eve.

In Genesis 3:5, the Serpent tempted our first parents by telling them, “You will be like God.”

Now, in the modern era, our ability to live in a world we’ve created allows us to “be like God” more than ever before.