The Velveteen Rabbit is a stuffed animal that wants to be real and, in some ways, already is through his human owner’s love. But when the boy contracts scarlet fever, the doctor orders the room disinfected and toys burned. Abandoned in a sack left outside in the garden, the Velveteen Rabbit cries in despair. A fairy appears and says, because he is loved, she will make him real. Taken into the forest, he becomes a real rabbit, alive, healthy, and at home.
It’s not a stretch to see ourselves as Velveteen Rabbits, and the fairy our Divine Creator. But, as the story goes, becoming real is a process, a journey that takes time. Our cuddly exteriors must become tired, tattered and worn. Even when it’s obvious that our masks are no longer effective—in fact, they never were—only a few choose to take the next steps.
Idols have no real existence
I think the first step in becoming real is to identify our idols, which are not alive in a living sense. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:4, Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.”
Idol worship was common throughout first-century Greece. Both family and civic events—weddings, funerals, birthdays, business meetings—took place in pagan temples where food offered to idols was served. And leftover meat was sold in the marketplace. Should the Corinthian Christians attend these social events and eat idol-offered meat or remove themselves from society and become vegetarians?
How do we live as Christians in a pagan society, like ours? The Corinthian Christians knew that idols have no real existence—they are not actually gods—and they knew the one true God is the only God. Paul states that as long as you know who God is and what He means in your life, you know there is no actual power or substance behind an idol or idolatrous ceremonies. So, go ahead and eat the food offerings. An idol is nothing, not real, so what you eat will not defile you. All that matters is what is in and comes out of your heart. God is real, and He knows our hearts.
This is real love
1 John 4:10 NLT This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
Real love is agape love—selfless and sacrificial, not mere emotion but commitment—and God loved us first. Due to sin, we are estranged from Him. But He is proactive, and His love is covenantal. He is always reaching out for us despite our unfaithfulness. Who else would send His only Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins?
That is real love.
Becoming real
So, what do the Velveteen Rabbit, idols, and God tell us about ourselves? Like the Velveteen Rabbit, we have to want to be real. Like the Corinthian Christians, we have to recognize idols for what they are and reject them, all while living in an idolatrous world. And each one of us has to embrace God’s agape love in order to become real. In Wisdom Builds Her House, I tell my own “becoming real” in faith story.
On Wednesday evening, November 12th, I’m teaching a class titled Finding Your Real Story, part of Story Circle Network’s Memoir Writing Series. Here’s the session description: “Writers often employ nonfiction—memoir and personal essays, in particular—to find their personal stories. As a veteran third-season-of-life writer and published memoirist, I’ll introduce the tools I found helpful for navigating this internal journey and for crafting stories with authenticity and insight.”
If you want to learn how to find and write your real story, please join me. And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV
Linkup with Five Minute Friday
Notes from Vanaprastha Podcasts on my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CaroleDuff
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