Let's Talk About Real Reality

"Five senses; an incurably abstract intellect; a haphazardly selective memory; a set of preconceptions and assumptions so numerous that I can never examine more than a minority of them—never become even conscious of them all. How much of total reality can
such an apparatus let through?"
A Grief Observed / Lewis, C.S.

I found this quote very interesting and very close to something I've been asking myself for a long time. If what I've lived in my 21 years on earth is not "the real world," what is? It's not reality television, that's for sure. I get the feeling that what everyone claims to be "the real world" is some hyped up drama on steroids-- a pessimistic world that people claim must be real simply because it's corrupted.

However, God created the "real world." So really, lets ask ourselves again, what is the real world? If God creates the "real world," then this dirt and smut and film that covers it doesn't make it real, it just makes it dirty.... The world that we step into is not an easy one. I never claim this-- I know better. However, it is also not the real one.

The world that I must live in is one that can, at times, bring great sadness. It's a world that is not blind to the grime, but it is one in which I wade through the mud to show others what it means to be cleansed. What many don't understand about the way we should live life is that we don't live life free of the bad stuff that comes our way. It doesn't just bounce off of us. When things happen to family members, it doesn't just effect them. It takes practice, a sort of off-road training to carry one another through and sometimes that means sore muscles.

However, each life is a real one. Each created life is meant for God's cleansing hand. And though we may not see it in ourselves (it's often hard to get psat a shield of mud-- a coat of dirt that clouds our sight of even ourselves), we do have the potential for real life. A clear life. And granted, the clear way is sometimes more painful. It hurts at times to see and recognize just who we are or have been. But above all the Christian life is about getting over ourselves and letting God clean us and work through our real lives in a world swimming in muddy waters.