“In real life…”
“When we get back to the real world…”
These are phrases that I’ve heard over the past nine months, and I’ve used myself.
Phrases we throw around when we talk about our lives back in the United States.
Yet, this is real life. And, this is the real world.
My life in America isn’t any less real than my life in any of the nine countries I’ve lived in. And, neither are the lives of any of the people I’ve interacted with the last nine months.
The truth of the matter is we are all living real lives, regardless of what stage we are in, what country we live in, and whether or not we have a job and an income.
In the real world, people suffer under the caste system and are disowned by their society simply because of who their parents are.
In the real world, women find selling their bodies as the only way to make an income and feed their children.
In the real world, children are abandoned by their families as ‘bad luck’ after a divorce.
In the real world, people live alongside their family’s murderers, with no hope for justice.
In the real world, Christians face the threat of imprisonment for the Gospel.
In the real world, people walk all day just to get water.
In the real world, people die from easily treatable diseases and injuries because they can’t afford health insurance.
In the real world, people struggle with addictions, eating disorders, and self harm.
So, let us not diminish our own experiences or the experiences of others because they don’t fit our paradigm of what ‘real life’ looks like.
And, let us not live our lives waiting for that next season.
Let us live boldly in the season that we are in.
