I like to play jokes on people.
Nothing really bad, just teasing. Telling little stories and seeing their unbelieving faces and their “really” expressions.
Some fall for it, they believe the fake story I just told them. Others don’t, they go deeper and ask for the real thing, the truth.
In a world of fake IDs, fake relationships and fake products, the realty is hard to find.
Many argue there isn’t actually a reality, everything is constructed.
But what if realness is there – buried deep inside of us and often found in unexpected places.
A student struggling with depression is real.
People in Syria living in the rubble of what used to be their homes are real.
Christians all over the world fearing for their lives because of their faith are real.
A Christian couple in your church getting a divorce is real.
A spouse yelling at you and not understanding every single one of your problems is real.
A friend letting you down or telling you something unexpected is real.
An experience of failure making you aware of your own weaknesses is real.
Being real doesn’t mean being perfect.
It often actually means real pain, struggles, breakups, failure, tough relationships.
What if being real meant being raw?
Authentic?
With all its edges and cliffs and struggles?
A real diamond is raw at first.
It looks like a stone and nothing fancy.
Only the chisel of a skilled master and life’s changes bring out the true beauty.
A raw stone turns into a real diamond.
Being real means being raw stones, nothing fancy or glamorous.
It means pain and struggles and disappointments.
But through courage and honesty we discover a bit more of our rawness.
And all along I hope we experience the chisel of our master to carve us more into diamonds.
Real treasures he already sees in us.
thisiskatha.com 
Glad to hear that, Barbie!
I can often feel the tool of the Master Potter, chiseling away the flawed and fake areas of my life and making my real self shine. Such a great post Katha!
Thank you!
Thanks, Verona!
Loved your post. So many interesting ideas. Thank you {A FMF friend}
What a beautiful post Katha…I especially like all the different explanations of “real.” These are many things that we all can relate to and have witnessed. Fortunately God is there for us and knows who we really are and loves us even in times of weakness. Blessings!