Real-igious

Real-ligious

Jillian mispelled a word in her Louis Pasteur paper today.

It made me laugh.

Real-ligious.

Isn’t that how it is? We think we are being “for real”. Authentic. Ourselves. Free. But sometimes we are more religious than real. Ever thought of what religious looks like? Do you think it might be you? Or are you genuinely “for real”? Are you real-igious?

It’s a funny thing being around realigious people compared to religious ones. There is a comfort, a laughter and joy about being real. Real to walk with Jesus. What joy!

It's been a long time since I just sat and talked face to face with someone real. But a week ago I had a phone conversation with dear friend... I think we might have hit the 2.5 hour mark! Real-ligious. The other night, I stayed up til past midnight, getting to know a new friend. Real - ligious.

Both cases: Women walking. Women talking. Women loving their God and learning and growing. Women knowing they don’t have it all together but, as the saying goes, together we have it all. Fellowship. Community. Real-igious.

I know I am being real-igious when I can tell my friend that I’m so irked at my teen that 4 letter words are flashing through my brain.

I know I am being real-igious when I can tell someone else’s kid they need to knock it off and that Jesus loves them, but they still need to shape up because they are bugging me!

I know I am being real-igious when I tell someone that I have no idea what to do or what to say and to ask someone else because I am totally clueless.

I know that being real-ligious is like this Christmas cactus. It was supposed to bloom at Christmas time, like, I am not kidding, like, can you tell I’m Californian?, 2 years ago, when I received it. It never bloomed. I parked it in a dark place in my garage to go dormant. It didn’t work. I gave up. I decided that since it looked more or less happy despite the fact that it never bloomed, I’d just leave it in my window sill. It’s been over a year but it’s suddenly blooming. Why?

Because it’s time. It’s real. It’s been alive all along but it needed something I couldn’t give it. When I gave up. It bloomed.

I think that’s what being real is all about. When you stop following all the rules and guidelines for blooming, you stop following all the prescribed directions, you just do it. You bloom. You become real-ligious. Like my Christmas cactus. Who cares if it’s not Christmas? Look at it! It's splendiforous with promise and blooms!

I haven’t thought this through. I have no time to edit. But I want to know, do you get it? Are you blooming? Or do you just need to rest from religious and get a little more real?