reality

a few weeks ago, my computer was having problems-
long story, short-
the hard drive was failing and needed to be replaced.
to save some serious money,
i asked the computer guys at church
to install my new hard drive
and re-install all of my old programs.

and yeah-
it didn’t cost me any money,
but it cost a lot of time.
the guy who installed it is a new guy.
he’s young and really into computers.
so while we waited for all of those programs to load,
we sat in my office
and he told me all i never wanted to know
about computers, the internet, and online games.
he’s really into online games.

he started telling me about this other reality-
an online reality-
where people can create a character
and live through them.
these characters make decisions,
they help each other,
they grow in power,
and they can die.

i started visualizing these powerful characters-
in reality- they aren’t powerful,
on the other side of the internet cable
is a nerd hoping for a real adventure
and real relationships, and real power.
they just appear powerful in this virtual reality.

after he left
i started thinking that maybe this virtual reality
isn’t far off from reality.
maybe life is like an online game-
we make decisions,
we help others and get help from others,
we look weak or powerful-
but is it who we really are?
or is it just the way that things appear.
we grow strong-
but do we have real power?
or do we just appear to have power?
are the powerful just weaklings in disguise?
or are they merely virtually-powerful?
are the one who appear weak
actually heroes in disguise?

when we die-
do we really die?
or is it just our character that we created?
when we die-
part of us dies-
and yet part of us lives.
maybe at that point we’ll see
the ultimate reality-
the way things really are.
and maybe we’ll see
that the life we have led,
and the decisions that we made,
and the outcomes that we have enjoyed
have all been in the hands
of the game’s Programmer-

and maybe its then that we’ll see reality-
that even though
we thought that life was just a game,
and life was all about us-
in reality-
it was always all about Him.

its time to stop living life through a character.
its time to recognize what’s really going on
in reality.
and its probably time
for me to learn to fix my computer myself!

“now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror;
then we shall see face to face.
now i know in part;
then i shall know fully,
even as i am fully known.”
-1 corinthians 12