• The facts of our birth, and what others do TO us, is not Real.
• Our “Ken and Barbie” plastic pleasures and lives are not Real.
• Moses discovered that “Man is Nothing, AND Man is Everything”
• Can you see the dolphins?
• Our choices in “the pursuit of happiness” can be both Real and not real.

Our “costume and setting” – or circumstances at birth and what happens to us – is not Real

There are many things that are Real within the sunrises and sunsets that make up our time here.  Let me start however with what is NOT Real.  The circumstances of our lives, or the stage, costumes, and props, and setting, are not real.  They are second estate factual, but if we get caught in the trees we will never see the forest.  It is virtually irrelevant if we are born rich or poor, black or white, American or Iranian, Nephite or Lamanite, far from the truth (as a “confused-but-swear-I-see-the-light” Ivy League liberal), or very near the most valuable truths (such as in a solid LDS family).  These are only the props we were handed and the scene we are acting in.  However, our reaction to them is Real.  Our reaction to others is Real.  The Experience we gain from our setting is Real.  If much is given, much is required to get the same reward as someone of whom little is required because little was given.  This is made plain in the Parable of the Talents. 

Suppose our stage sees us born into a war torn environment where rape, murder, torture, starvation, are the lot of many in your circle and maybe even you.  Whatever evil, momentary gratification the perpetrators obtain seems real, but it is not. The pain we experience ourselves or vicariously as we see the suffering of others is Real, but there are greater Real and valuable opportunities here.  Any time we relieve suffering, stand against evil, or maintain our faith when faith is all we have and it’s hard to hold on to, that is all REAL and demonstrates to the Heavens that we are becoming Christ-like!

Our “Ken and Barbie” plastic lives

More on what is not Real.  “Stuff” is not real.  Earthly kingdoms and power are not Real.  Consider for a moment “Ken and Barbie” of doll-house fame.  From our vantage point, they are NOT real, and they are missing out on a lot of the wonders that it is to be human.  However, imagine for a minute that Ken and Barbie were actually alive, but that they had a veil drawn over them that made them completely unaware that there may be any type of existence beyond their plastic world.  They would sit in their plastic world doing what plastic world people do.  They would eat plastic hamburgers (just like us – when buying from the dollar menu).  They would watch the little TV with nothing on it and marvel at how nice it is.  They would drive around forever in a plastic pink Corvette that never runs out of gas. 

They may hear stories from crazy “prophets” who say there is a life beyond their world which is wonderful, and that they may even have a chance to experience it if they will simply believe it is there, stop the infatuation with a TV that won’t turn on, and live as if they really belong in the better place.  However, Ken just can’t get over driving the plastic car around the house, and further, he is desperate to have the biggest plastic house there is.  Barbie just can’t get over her infatuation with clothes.  And it never seems to rain in their world, so what could be much better than what they’ve got?

It would be hard for them to imagine what our world is like, but it is easy for us to comprehend not only our world, but theirs also.  We can judge that the plastic house, the Velcro clothes, and everything that is their world is nothing to brag about. 

From God’s perspective, our world is pretty much plastic, and just not that cool.  Because we cannot see God’s world, it is hard to value it or even to trust that it exists.  To us, this is an exciting enough place, and many work really hard to gain whatever they can from this life.  Our plastic pleasure seems real.  Our plastic pain seems real.  They are Real in the sense that WE ARE REAL, and how WE react to them can have a Real outcome either positive or negative. 

The Plan of Salvation brings structure and meaning to our lives.  It puts our plastic world into context, and reminds us that the plastic and the Pinocchio are necessary steps to obtain something Real.

The Plan of Salvation, with its first estate, second estate, and third estate is the all-encompassing Reality that helps place the experiences of this place into proper context.  Inherent in believing in this plan is an admission that there are other places, perhaps best described almost as other dimensions to use a sci-fi description, that have a definite X,Y,Z coordinate in space, and that are inhabited by beings who have a reality different than that which we wake up to every day.  For those yet in the first estate, our reality is a step beyond theirs, even though they may be more aware of our reality than we are of theirs.  For those who have passed beyond this state, they are a step beyond us, and may have an awareness not only of their new place, but perhaps a remembrance of this place and the first estate also.  Our challenge now is to just trust that there is something greater than simply acquiring a billion dollars or marrying a sexy spouse “as seen with the eyes of the world”.

How cool is Mankind…really?

Moses was one of the few earth dwellers whose mind was opened to an awareness of the greater Realities.   As a Prince of Egypt, and party to the most impressive works of mankind to that date, he stated after he was privileged to see the works of God, “Now I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed” (Moses 1, verse 10).

The works of man are arguably more impressive these days, but how impressive are they really?  An awareness of the greater Realities still dwarfs anything we will ever do.  You know how kids come running to show you something they’re so proud of?  You are in fact proud of them, but what ever it is they did is cool in relative terms (relative to them as children), but just really isn’t that cool in absolute terms (compared to the space shuttle or something).  I imagine God is like that with us.  We work for untold years, spend billions of dollars, and figure out what?  Lasik surgery, hearing aids, and the like.  God is proud of us, no doubt, but knows that what is “cool” for us is really amateurish in the grand scheme of things.  “Oh yeah Lasik surgery?  Watch me cure that blind man, and it won’t take even 10 seconds or require an army of PhD’s.”

Man is nothing, Man is everything

So man is nothing, and yet man is everything!  God says, “This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man”.  We understand this when we look at small children.  We know their works amount to nothing, that their problems are minor, and that they have an awful lot of progress to make, but to a loving parent that progress means everything!  It becomes the reason we get up and head out into the plastic world.  Sometimes we misjudge and think that loving our kids means giving them free, plastic stuff that we always wanted, when actually loving our kids means helping them see the greater vision beyond the plastic.  It means enabling them mentally, physically, and spiritually to achieve the most good they can with whatever talents they obtain.  It means helping them find God, and then them helping others to find God.

The plastic world and what is Real can be well understood with one of my favorite analogies, that I call “3-D dolphins”. 

3-D dolphin picture analogy:  A fascinating world of spiritual knowledge is available if only you “have eyes to see”

You know those 3-D pictures made of randomly-sized circles all of varying shades of say green and blue?  Someone may tell you there’s a dolphin in there, and you stare at it for awhile, but can’t see it immediately so you give up and move on.  They seem trustworthy, but you ultimately don’t believe them or consider them well-meaning but senile.   But then someone comes along and you ask, “Can you see anything in there?” They respond, “Oh yeah, it’s a dolphin”.  You find many people think they see a dolphin, but you never can, and decide it isn’t really worth the effort to keep trying.

They tell you to look cross-eyed, peripherally, and anything they can think of until you finally have to move on with your day.  Many give up there, but others will try again on a different day and finally begin to “see the dolphins” – an entire world that was right before your eyes, but to which you were previously blinded.  That is the world that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has opened to my eyes.  I don’t see that spiritual world all that clearly yet, but I have “seen some dolphins” and I can tell there is probably a lot more that I can yet see if I look long enough and correctly (prayer, faith, diligence, etc.). 

The Pursuit of Happiness

Real and unreal things can also be found when contemplating that unalienable right that Thomas Jefferson well labeled “The Pursuit of Happiness”.   His insightful choice of words reveals one of God’s major purposes for life.  He has placed us here with an instinct to seek for things that will bring us happiness, but with a host of competing voices trying to define for us exactly what happiness means.  Yet He does not define happiness for us, and leaves us completely free to “pursue” what ever we think happiness might be. 

Many are born as “Lamanites” and hear few voices advocating from God’s camp on actions and lifestyles that bring Real and lasting happiness.  They are tempted into a life of “sex, drugs, and rock and roll”, and the tainted pleasures that these bring counterfeit for a short time as happiness.  Others end up so low that they think happiness is being rid of those who have claim on them, so they leave their families or may even murder.  Many born as “Nephites” are raised to understand things that really do bring Real happiness, but they don’t see the dolphins, and they seek out the easy way of short term gratification.  Then there are Lamanites to find Real happiness, and Nephites also.  Real happiness has so many facets, and you can find none, find a few and miss most, and find most but miss a few.  I doubt anyone has ever found all facets of happiness.  Key is that we all have the same freedom to chase our dreams, and to seek out what we believe will make us Happy. 

I can say with confidence that I have been at the Tree of Life, tasted some of the fruit, and found it to be very desirable and truly brings Real Happiness.  I am grateful to live in a free society that places high value on our right to seek after happiness.  I can also say that it is clear that though everyone is seeking, few are really finding Real Happiness.  Sadly, I have also spent some time window shopping in the Great and Spacious Building.  I can report that whatever measures of short-term pleasure are available there, you come away in the end more hollow, shallow, and disillusioned.  There is nothing Real in the Great and Spacious Building, except the fact that we Really will lose our shot at becoming a Real Boy if we dwell there too long.

Some things I know are not Real:

Keeping up with the Jones; trading or devaluing your family for a roll in the world – even if that roll is significantly beneficial to the world; the world’s obsession with sexual sensations (Real in the right setting, but very plastic otherwise); exploiting other people for wealth or selfish purposes (not the same as employing people respectfully, ending up wealthy in the process, and using your wealth to achieve things that are Real); Our costume and stage play is not real (black, white, American, Iranian, middle ages, vegetable IQ, PhD, endless pain, or seemingly endless luxury). 

Are Corvettes Real?

I’ve always wanted to believe that great automobiles are Real.  I’ve hunted around and I believe the creative genius behind them is Real, but our trading valuable assets for vanity instead of for things God would condone is what makes them not real.  Somebody Real had to make Barbie’s plastic Corvette, but the ‘Vette is still plastic.  In other words, there is nothing wrong with the process that seeks to improve upon something – either in its physical quality, utility, or beauty.  The “wrong” comes in our motive for improving or in our purposes for having the improvement.  The makers of Ferraris go wrong when they build into their designs features whose sole purpose is to tempt our vanity into setting ourselves above our brothers and sisters.  We go wrong when we want a Ferrari, not because of its quality and beauty, but because we can then look down on others.

All of these thoughts have helped me immensely to comprehend the larger Realities.  I hope you’ve enjoyed this exploration of “What is Real.”

 

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