Reality Around UsHave you ever felt that you knew there was something more going on around you but you couldn't explain that feeling? Maybe there is a presence you can't quite identify. Maybe it's a feeling that there is more to the picture but you can't pin it down. Morpheus explained it to Neo in The Matrix this way: "Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life; that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is but it's there like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad." It could be that the reality is there are two realities all around us. The one that presents itself everyday. The one that we all see. And maybe another one that we sense but don't fully experience. Perhaps the more tangible one is really the illusion and the more illusive one is reality. Maybe what makes the one reality more pressing on our senses is its rigidness and hardness. Maybe the other is more mystical because it is more soft and pliable. Maybe the hard reality seems more safe and secure because it is clearly and firmly defined; even if it is confining. Maybe the flexibility of the other is scary and not very reassuring. Maybe, just maybe, Jesus was a glimpse, an ambassador, if you will, for the second reality. The reality our spirits were created to live in; a reality that is not brittle and controlling but, instead, is liquid and nurturing; the reality of the kingdom of God all around us. If that were true, how would people respond to him? Would they rejoice in experiencing the new spiritual reality of love and forgiveness that they had always sensed but couldn't really pin down? Or would they pretend the loving, softer reality didn't exist; couldn't exist. We know what they did 2,000 years ago; they killed the messenger but they couldn't kill the message. The messenger rose again and today he continues to speak the message of the kingdom of God; a kingdom of love and service and humility and freedom in relinquishing. Do you sense it? I think you do. I think that's why you are here. Neo speaks to the hard, false reality of the Matrix in the final scene: "I know you're out there. I can feel you now. I know that you're afraid. You're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I am going to hang up this phone and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you; a world without rules and controls; without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible." Pastor Greg |