Reality

Reality.
I was going to write a scathing blog post about reality, or rather, escaping reality. I was going to talk about how reality is where it's real, and how our life shouldn't be lived in a fantasy world.

I was going to mention all the things people use to escape reality. Things like

cell phones
Facebook
movies
constant music in private ear buds
games
and so much more.

I was going to discuss how people seem to be escaping reality more and more. It's an acceptable thing nowadays to be always in and out of what's really going on. Bored with what your friend is saying over lunch? Flip open your cell phone to check out Facebook. Tired of hearing your neighbor talk? IPods are there for you and only share what you want to hear. Family members getting on your nerves? Television is easy to focus on if you want to block everyone else out...and they're busy blocking you out with it, too!

Reality is so often hard. Reality often means dealing with painful situations, painful people, or uncomfortable things. Reality is not the fluffy clouds or happy endings of fantasy. Reality is..real. Sometimes it's real hard.

Reality is where it's at though. When you're dealing with reality, you're often in a place where you have the choice to grow, or change, or the choice to ignore what's going on and stay in the same comfortable spot.

Avoiding reality is easy. Avoiding reality allows you to slip into a dream world where everything goes your way or you can control what the outcome looks like.

I was going to write about avoiding reality and escaping reality.
And then I realized that I wanted to escape my own reality. My reality of choosing a hard path. I'd love to escape to an oasis instead of climbing this hill.

But my muscles - be it spiritual muscles or physical muscles- won't grow stronger by lying around an oasis. They'll grow stronger by climbing the hill which is my reality.

And I want to be strong. I want a strong spiritual life. I want a strong physical life. I want to really live. I want to be really present. I want to be present in God's presence. Not avoiding the reality of His goodness and His love. Not avoiding the reality of His discipline or direction. I don't want to miss out on what's going on right before me. I don't want to miss out on God.

So I won't write that scathing blog post.
Instead I'll work on climbing this hill.
Because the view...which the hill blocks...will be beautiful.
And because I'm compelled by the reality of God's presence. Who would want to escape that love?
Not me.