BitterSweetLife

Let's not get carried away here, goes the typical refrain. Look around you. People are dying of AIDS and genocide, there's a puddle of oil under your car, and if you're not careful, your next check is going to bounce. Positive pronouncements are a nice gesture, but let's keep it real.

There's definitely something to this. Physical reality gives us all plenty to think about, and there's no doubt that it's easier to just watch TV. Personally, keeping it real makes me think about playing pick-up ball on asphalt, sweating a lot, writing angst-filled posts about waiting and confusion, and maybe getting a tattoo. Could there be something I'm missing here?

Well, yes. (That was a metaphorical question, which means that you were supposed to know the answer.) It occurs to me that we're being ripped off every time we let ourselves believe that what strikes our retinas is the highest grade of Reality available. Raw physicality. The rap music of the universe. We think it's the bottom line, but it's not.

What would it really mean to keep it real? The question haunts me. I know I'm physically biased, but the older, wiser strands of my mind remember that the real identity of the universe is shrouded in invisibility. Spirit is older and stronger than atoms. Surrounding us is an unseen reality--mysterious, terrifying, and ultimately hopeful.

Conclusion? Don't give the nod to a bottom line reality that's merely crude, loud, and in your face. Authenticity is a more elusive, more profound and more beautiful pursuit. Try to live to the rhythms of the unseen but world-ruling Jesus. Know it or not, this world is haunted by him--and so are you. So keep it real.