Nearly every Friday night for the last several years my husband and I have had a pizza and movie night with our boys. We all look forward to it for different reasons I suppose. We try our best to keep it on the schedule and not book ourselves out of our family time.
Last night we had finished watching our movie on Netflix, and my husband went to put the kids to bed. Normally, I get up and go tuck them in and tell them I love them. Last night I was lazy I guess. I was snuggled in to a comfy spot on the couch and just didn’t want to move. So I stayed right there and watched as the television screensaver popped on. I don’t usually have enough time to sit and wait around for screensavers so this was interesting.
They are beautiful pictures of various nature scenes. They change every few seconds, so I saw several stunning images. They were very relaxing and pleasant to look at from my cushy spot on the couch with the low light of just a pair of small lamps. I enjoyed that couple of minutes very much, but I couldn’t help but think about how that must be a super poor substitute for the real thing.
What if I were standing on a bluff somewhere looking at the reality of this stunning view above. That picture of a picture on my television screen is pretty. Just think how much better it would be if I were actually there. I’m thankful for the technological advances that let me take a live look at the waves crashing in on some beach. I’m thankful for images from space that show me things I’ll never see otherwise. That’s amazing. It’s so much better to actually be at the beach, though. We see that same picture but also feel the sand under our feet, feel the breeze and smell the salty ocean air. Real is better.
I love cauliflower on it’s own but I don’t like when it pretends to be other things. I love that our smartphones allow us to carry friendships in the palms of our hands, but sometimes physically being with our friends is the only thing that will work. I like to watch or listen to church services sometimes, but you don’t get moved in the same way as being there. I am appreciative and relieved that my family and friends have prayed for me through the years, but that can never replace my own personal relationship with God.
I hope that I don’t let life pass me by while I’m just looking at pretty pictures and filling it with poor substitutes. Sometimes we must put the priority on the real thing. Taking a trip. Taking a risk on a person or a dream. Using real butter. Whatever it is for you, make sure and carve out some time, money or energy for the real thing. It’s worth it.
This morning my oldest son pointed out that on the back of a cereal box was a place to cut out your very own “actual reality goggles.” He asked if he could do it. I said, “Buddy you are doing it. Your eyes are showing you actual reality.”
Friends I’ve laughed about that thought all day. Sometimes I really, really don’t want to see actual reality. But when I think about looking at a picture of the Grand Canyon compared to the experience I had looking at it in person, well, it’s not even close. Standing in front of the actual Mona Lisa feels much different than looking at it in a book. The difference in looking at pictures of my boys versus actually hanging out with them watching a movie isn’t remotely the same.
Life is short, and reality is quite a teacher. There’s definitely a time and place for a substitute. Living life through someone else’s experience or counting on our own life to carry someone else is just never going to work. It’s a substitute that won’t stack up. Let’s make sure we don’t get so caught up in the ease and convenience of substitutes that we forget to experience some of the real, genuine, authentic thing.
