Once upon a time, or at least that is the way a lot of stories last. In other words we are always reading about things that happened in the past. But of course, how can you write a book about events that have never happened yet. In the Book of Revelations we can find about future events. Also in science fiction books we can read about possible to improbable futures. These are often grandiose and fantasy ridden only because it is more acceptable to write about big spaceships exploring the cosmos hoping to find an intriguing new world that can be inhabitable by humans so that the present Earths population can move there and ease the burden that this planet already has on it.

But is that real. WHat is real. Real is when we get up in the morning and try to figure out how to make the new day better than the one before. Real is when we get a flat tire in the fast lane during rush hour. Real is when a person has to get their teenage daughter out of jail because the party she went to got a little too wild.

Although this may be a depressing look at what real is, what about the positive. Yes, there are positives to the real world because of Gods creation. You see the trees and the flowers, which all real. There are the tulips and the bougainvillea plants that produce great beauty, especially in the Spring, which signifies a rejuvenation of the true world version of real.

Deuteronomy 33:13 And of Joseph he said, "Blessed by the LORD be his land, with the choicest gifts of heaven above, and of the deep that couches beneath, RSV

We can see real in the faces of smiling people who are thinking about someone else that they love and spend time with. We can see real in the meadows of grasses that we could run through barefoot, if we could just find the time.

Time is real. It is so real that we wonder why it goes by so fast. It is like a speeding locomotive, and as stealthy as a plane undetectable by radar. It can also slow down, at least in our own minds, when we cannot getting any sleep and we are wondering how the press conference that we are the main speaker at will be like after no sleep.

We also see real on the faces of people who are mourning and are in the grips of grief and sorrow. We need to pray for these people. I know, who has to time to pray, you ask. But just think about it. If you spend all your time in self-absorption will you be any better off than you are right now.

You might be happier temporarily thinking only of yourself, but then the lonely times will get all the more lonely and you will wish you had the human love contact you could have had if you had only made the time to give of yourself and let others know of Gods love.

Deuteronomy 33:26 "There is none like God, O Jesh'urun, who rides through the heavens to your help, and in his majesty through the skies." RSV

Because that is what life should be like. It should be about what God wants, not what you want. Part of life is sacrificing oneself for others. Sacrificing in the way that makes sense. By making sense I mean giving of yourself every day. Maybe a little of a lot, that is up to you. You can pray for the homeless person that is walking across the crosswalk on your way to work. You can pray that they will find the hope that God's love can given them. You can pray that they will find their next meal. You can pray that they will find something special to enhance their life as they trudge on down the road of life.

You can pray for the man who is wearing the pin-striped business suit who looks like a high-power executive. Pray that the will decide not to fire the 4,000 employees he wants to in a corporate downsizing plan. Because if he does, there might be a few who will eventually be like the homeless person bereft of hope. Pray that the executive will figure another way of keeping those employees and still make a profit that will please him.

Because that is what God is about, helping others and helping to make the world a better place, but He needs to help in letting others know of His love. So unless you set aside time to be with the Lord in prayer, you will find yourself caught quite often in the doldrums road, feeling bored at times, and sometimes over-weight with a loss of hope and cheer.

So help bring hope and love into another persons life by praying and giving God a chance to make another persons life more enriched and loved.

That is what Real is truly about.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to help others by getting outside myself by thinking of others and what they can do for my life. Help me to seek you often and always as I go through my day seeking your salvation and your love. Help in the coming week to really see others around me and note the expressions on their faces, so that I can pray for those that look they are heavy-minded with feelings of sorrow and possible remorse. Help these people to find you within the jungle that makes up their mind by seeing Your light and making it a guiding force in their life. I thank you for all your many blessings. Amen.

Benediction: Now, Lord, Bless us in our daily lives. Help us to smell the roses whenever possible, to shine our light on those less fortunate than us, and lead us in the path we should go. For you are the light that keeps our path well lit. Help us to follow it, until we meet you, in a land where milk and honey abound, a place where our most wonderful dreams are fulfilled. Amen.

Hi, my name is Bryan, a messenger of hope who would love to hear from you. God Bless.

© 2005 Bryan Hill