Non-virtual reality

Mark and I rode our bicycles to his house a few streets over from mine in northeast Philadelphia. We were both 14 years old. He had a pool and I was often invited to enjoy cooling off during hot Philadelphia summer afternoons. This time our discussion went to aging. What would it be like to get old? We concluded that 50 is pretty old. It would happen in the year 2000 for us, and we probably wouldn’t even be able to breathe by then – if we lived that long. Amused, I still remember that conversation.

I’ve lost touch with Mark. His family moved to Michigan. I hope he is still breathing. Amazing how we perceived reality with the youthful perspectives of our 14-year-old minds.

But life was simple for us then. Our reality was limited to our own 14-year teen experience. We didn’t understand aging.

And now, 60 years later, I’m amazed at how things have changed so quickly. I still don’t understand aging. But this I do understand – the reality that determines destiny, isn’t virtual.

Mark and I didn’t have to think about aging; it would happen to us anyway. Our reality was our daily adventure. In a sense that has not changed. We age one moment at a time. The real world around us is not imaginary, not virtual. Gaining insight in the process is not an imaginary adventure, but it can be missed if our only perceived reality is virtual.

When the house is really burning to the ground, virtual reality won’t matter. The fire matters. We can’t let our virtual world become our real world, and thereby become our fake reality. For when the fire comes, our burning will not be virtual. It will be real. Read Proverbs 3 and discover insights into non-virtual reality.

Mark and I couldn’t stay 14 forever. We didn’t want to. Real life is much better than fantasy life.