Being Real!

"What is REAL?" the Velveteen Rabbit asked the Skin Horse one day. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Velveteen Rabbit .

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. 

"You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand. But once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always.”

Part of my journey of becoming real has included some medical issues.  This time it was an emergency surgery because my intestines decided to move into places they didn’t belong and I'm really grateful that my doctors passed anatomy class.  Many times when people hear about these things they become unsettled and at times fearful but I want you to hear not only the reassuring words from the Velveteen Rabbit but also of the Gospel of John that calls us to abide in him.  And because we abide in him and he in us - there is nothing that we should be afraid of.  

So what does that mean?  It means, I don’t have to be afraid of lopsided ears, frayed edges, going bald, stuffing falling out or even several stitches in my abdomen or even mounting medical bills.  

Being real hurts sometimes but the alternative is unimaginable.  This body that I am in has loved me through some good and bad times.  You, my family at Reformation, and all of us,  as THE BODY of Christ love me through the good and bad times.  But more importantly - our Savior Jesus Christ loves us through the good and the bad times.  

So my joints may be loose and shabby and the new scars on my belly may be ugly but the realness that is in Christ - his healing power - lasts always.  

Blessings on this healing journey for us all. 

Pr. Imani