I love children's books, and one of my favorites is The Velveteen Rabbit. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, it is about a little toy Rabbit who is given to a Little Boy. The Boy loves his toy Rabbit and they are inseparable. In the end, the Boy loves his toy Rabbit so much that the toy Rabbit becomes real.
Early on in the story the Velveteen Rabbit has a conversation with the Skin Horse, an older and wiser toy.
"What is REAL?" the Rabbit asked the Skin Horse one day. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse, "It's a thing that happend to you. when a child loves you for a long, long time, then you become Real. By the time you ar Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and you get very shabby."
"I suppose you are Real?" asked the Rabbit.
"The Boy's uncle made me Real many years ago," said the Skin Horse. "Once you are Real, you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."
I think about this part of the story every now and then because it reminds me so much of the Lord and what He is doing for me. He is loving me, carrying me everywhere, delighting in me and in the process of all this, there are bits of me that are slowly being worn away.
The Velveteen Rabbit, after being cradled in the arms of the Little Boy for weeks and months and year, begins to lose some of the gloss off of his fur and the pink velvet of his nose is rubbed away (from kisses). Because he is so happy that the Boy loves him, he doesn't notice that all of his outwardly, pretty, inconsequential elements are slowly disappearing. I love to think that as God walks with me and loves me He is wearing away all my outwardly, pretty, inconsequential elements. There is so much of me that is frail and corruptable.
I also like to hope that as I learn to delight in the presence of God it will be all I really care about. I won't notice the departure of my nice, glossy coat and cute pink velvety nose that were so eye catching in their day (and by that I refer to all the fronts and faces and shows I can put on that look so impressive but in the end are just fake rabbit fur with no life underneath).
The Velveteen Rabbit ends with the Rabbit being loved into Real. He gets real arms and legs and can run and jump and scratch His ear. He goes to live in the forest with all the other rabbits and, as the author puts it, is home at last.
This reminds me of how, one day, love is going to make me Real too. One day God will transform me, and I will leave behind the constraints of my weak seams and lumpy stuffing. All the fake, artificial stuff I live in right now will be gone and I'll be alive, for real. And, as the Skin Horse said, "Once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."
Can't wait. Happy Easter.
Early on in the story the Velveteen Rabbit has a conversation with the Skin Horse, an older and wiser toy.
"What is REAL?" the Rabbit asked the Skin Horse one day. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse, "It's a thing that happend to you. when a child loves you for a long, long time, then you become Real. By the time you ar Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and you get very shabby."
"I suppose you are Real?" asked the Rabbit.
"The Boy's uncle made me Real many years ago," said the Skin Horse. "Once you are Real, you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."
I think about this part of the story every now and then because it reminds me so much of the Lord and what He is doing for me. He is loving me, carrying me everywhere, delighting in me and in the process of all this, there are bits of me that are slowly being worn away.
The Velveteen Rabbit, after being cradled in the arms of the Little Boy for weeks and months and year, begins to lose some of the gloss off of his fur and the pink velvet of his nose is rubbed away (from kisses). Because he is so happy that the Boy loves him, he doesn't notice that all of his outwardly, pretty, inconsequential elements are slowly disappearing. I love to think that as God walks with me and loves me He is wearing away all my outwardly, pretty, inconsequential elements. There is so much of me that is frail and corruptable.
I also like to hope that as I learn to delight in the presence of God it will be all I really care about. I won't notice the departure of my nice, glossy coat and cute pink velvety nose that were so eye catching in their day (and by that I refer to all the fronts and faces and shows I can put on that look so impressive but in the end are just fake rabbit fur with no life underneath).
The Velveteen Rabbit ends with the Rabbit being loved into Real. He gets real arms and legs and can run and jump and scratch His ear. He goes to live in the forest with all the other rabbits and, as the author puts it, is home at last.
This reminds me of how, one day, love is going to make me Real too. One day God will transform me, and I will leave behind the constraints of my weak seams and lumpy stuffing. All the fake, artificial stuff I live in right now will be gone and I'll be alive, for real. And, as the Skin Horse said, "Once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."
Can't wait. Happy Easter.
