NOT A FANTASY GOD

 The masses of India see cricket as a diversion from the sharp realities of life. With daily deprivations and struggles just for surviving: it's sporting controversies are a welcome diversion, even to those who truly know nothing much about the game itself.

Look at the crowds that flood our movie theaters daily. Again, like the obsession with cricket, the cinema offers a diversion and escape from reality. Fantasy takes over. It is usually made up largely of a lot of music, dance, exaggerated and unbelievable fist fights and weeping and wailing heroines.

Who wants to see a movie about real life? Why see on the screen the hardships a person has to daily endure. Let fantasy take over and let it transport one away from the stark reality of difficult living.

When the populace strives to live out the fantasies, and when diversion takes the place of reality, then we are in trouble. How can we truly escape the realities of living? And how could we cope with the possible daily desperations of life in a land like ours?

We know the answer, and by "we", I mean those who have a relationship with the God who is Real. The Sovereign Lord of the Universe who is the Creator of all of Existence can help his highest form of creation, man, come to grips with the sometimes extremely harsh realities of life. God puts meaning and purpose into all of living for He is the reason for our very existence. The Bible says that in Jesus we have the final Amen (cor 1:20) andin Him all things hold together. With Christ we can see how all things fit together and today's harshness could become tomorrow's goodness. The Author and Finisher of our Faith (Heb 12:2) can make all things work together for good for His childrens sake. (Rom 8:28)

We need to face up to life and its realities with the knowledge that God is in control of all things. Running from life's difficulties is really not recommended for where could you go? Living in a world of make believe is equally frustrating for fantasy balloons eventually burst. Rather have the God who is Real as our hiding place, (ps 119:114), our Comforter and our Guide.

But I too every now and then enjoy the strange progressions of a Bollywood movie. I laugh with it and even cry with it. But I refrain from living in it, living in a world of fantasy.

Dr. Leonard W. Thompson