Don't be so abstract!

I wish I had a dime for every time in my life someone told me that I was too theoretical, dealing in the abstract. "Get real, will you," is what people told me a lot across the years. It is true, ABSTRACT is not REALITY and vice versa. The definition of abstract is "separate, existing in the mind only." This often means separate from reality. So when something is abstract, we generally mean it is something unoberservable (unreal) that explains what is real, like a theory.

The human condition accepts the fact that what is tangible, or experienced with physical senses, is real. while ideas, thoughts, concepts, etc. are abstract, and used to discuss and explain the unobservable facets of the observable.

What if this is exactly backwards?

What if reality is the unobservable and the physical, observable is just a shadow or object that points to the reality. God says "He gives beauty for ashes." Maybe the beautiful bird in the flowering tree is pointing to the beauty that God gives us and that what He gives us is real, and the bird in the flowering tree is the abstract. What if the observable is not the reality? What would you do? How would you make sense of life? How then would you live?

Maybe that is what Christianity is? Maybe it is the real thing. If so, there is plenty of evidence that it works like the latter. reality is in the unobservable and the observable is simply a pointer or a shadow of reality.

Let's take the proposition, "Jesus is the light of the world." In this proposition which object is observable and which is unobservable? Of course, Jesus is unobservable and light is observable. Which is abstract and which is real? Christians would say, "well, Jesus is real, but so is light."

Then, you mean we have a visible and invisible object and neither is abstract, both are real? What if we apply the principle of faith that the invisible is real and the visible is abstract. If we do that, we conclude that circumstances, physical aspects of our life, including our body, are simply pointers to reality. They are in a sense, ABSTRACT.

Is this not why Paul said, "for the things which are seen are temporal, and the things which are not seen are eternal."and "Christ raised us up with Him and made us to sit with Him in the heavenly places." Jesus said, "fear not for the Father has chosen gladly to give you His Kingdom." And my favorite of all, since I spent a lot of time at Cocal-Cola, Jesus said, "this is the REAL THING, that you have an intimate relationship with God through His son Jesus whom He sent."

Which is real? Which is abstract? Are you sure you have it in the right order?

If we trusted our faith, the evidence that this is true, would we live differently?
Would our soul be satisfied in different ways?