Confusion is often thought of as a lack of clarity—as though something is simply missing, and once the right answer is found, the feeling will pass. But when you begin to look more closely, it doesn’t always feel like something is absent. It often feels like too much is present at once—too many thoughts, too many interpretations, too many possible directions, all held together without yet forming a clear whole.
In that kind of state, what once seemed certain begins to loosen. What once felt steady begins to shift, sometimes gradually, sometimes all at once. And the mind can feel caught between different ways of seeing, unable to fully settle into any one of them. It’s not only that we don’t know what to think. It’s that the way we usually recognize what is true doesn’t seem to function in quite the same way it did before.
This is part of what makes confusion feel so disorienting. It’s not simply uncertainty. It begins to affect the structure by which we make sense of things, and when that structure is no longer clear, even familiar thoughts can start to feel unsettled.
The theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg describe this kind of state in a way that begins to bring some light to it. They suggest that confusion arises when truth becomes less clearly seen—when what is false can begin to appear convincing, and what is true becomes more difficult to recognize. At the same time, what we are drawn to and what we believe to be true may no longer move together in the same way, and this lack of alignment begins to be felt within the mind.
In that condition, thoughts don’t align in the way they usually do, and different influences can begin to pull in different directions at the same time. This doesn’t happen randomly, even though it can feel that way when you’re in the middle of it. It’s connected to something deeper taking place within the mind.
There is, within each person, an ongoing tension between what is true and what is false, and between what leads toward a more ordered way of living and what draws us away from it. Much of the time, this tension remains beneath the surface.
But there are moments when it begins to come into clearer view—when different ways of thinking and perceiving are brought into contrast. And when that happens, the result is not immediate clarity. It is a kind of inner disorientation. It is confusion.
This begins to explain something that many people experience, but don’t always understand. Confusion doesn’t always come from carelessness or indifference. In many cases, it becomes more noticeable when a person is actually trying to see more clearly and live more faithfully. It can feel, in those moments, as though something has gone wrong. But it may be that something is being brought into view.
In this way, confusion isn’t a detour from the path, but often part of it—a sign that the Lord is quietly working to bring what we love, what we believe to be true, and how we live into deeper harmony.
Swedenborg describes these states as forms of inner struggle—times when different influences are allowed to come into contrast so that something more stable can eventually be formed. From within the experience, this doesn’t feel orderly or purposeful. It feels unsettled. It feels uncertain. It can even feel like losing clarity rather than moving toward it. And yet, that doesn’t mean it lacks direction.
This is where the meaning of confusion begins to shift. If confusion were only the absence of clarity, then the only goal would be to escape it as quickly as possible. But if it’s a state in which deeper distinctions are beginning to form—if it’s a condition in which truth and what is not true are being brought into clearer separation—then it becomes something different. It becomes a transition. Not a place to remain, but a place through which something is being worked out, often quietly, often gradually.
The framework of theistic psychology developed by Dr. Leon James helps to describe how this can be understood in a more practical way. The human mind is not random. It is formed to receive life, understanding, and direction. When that reception becomes unclear or conflicted, the mind can feel pulled in different directions at once. But as what is true begins to take its proper place again—sometimes slowly, sometimes almost imperceptibly—the mind begins to return to a more stable form of order.
Clarity doesn’t usually return all at once. It forms gradually, as what is true is recognized and followed, and as what doesn’t hold begins to fall away. Over time, what is more true, more steady, and more useful begins to take shape, and the mind settles into a clearer and more ordered way of seeing.
Seen in this way, confusion is no longer something that simply needs to be avoided or pushed past as quickly as possible. It becomes something that can be approached with greater awareness—not by accepting everything that arises, and not by rejecting the experience itself, but by learning to look more closely within it.
To begin asking, quietly and honestly:
What here is true?
And to follow that, even if only in small steps.
If you find yourself in a place where things no longer feel clear, it may not mean that you are lost. It may be that something is being brought into view that was not yet fully seen. And if that is the case, then confusion is not the opposite of clarity. It is part of the path toward it.
You may find that this question returns to you at different times, sometimes quietly, sometimes with more urgency. And over time, as it is asked honestly and followed, something begins to shift.
If you would like to continue, the next step is to begin understanding the structure within which this confusion takes place:
How the Mind Is Structured
“God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.” — 1 Corinthians 14:33
“When truth is being learned, there are states of confusion and inward agitation before order and peace can be established.” — Emanuel Swedenborg, Arcana Coelestia 840
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