The Pony and the Unicorn

Once upon a time, there was a pony who lived in a pasture with a pond. Now, to the humans who passed by, this pond and this pasture and this pony looked very much normal. The pony took part in normal pony activities, patiently allowing himself to be hugged and brushed and led and driven by the little girl all day long. He never complained about what he was called upon to do, and, to all appearances, was quite content just the way he was. 

But when night fell, things changed. The pond in the pony’s pasture was actually a doorway to a fantastical land that the pony would enter after all the humans had gone to bed. After traveling through this pond-gate, the pony became a unicorn, complete with an iridescent horn that shone in the moonlight rippling through the gentle waves of the sea-sky above. 

In the world of fantasy, the pony was known as the loveliest of all creatures, and everyone came to gaze on his beauty. Rare and wonderful gifts were always given to him, new things every night, and the pony would humbly share his wisdom with those not as fortunate as he. After spending the night under the sea-sky, the pony would hurry back through the pond-gate to resume his life as a normal pony come break of day. 

The pony was quite happy with this arrangement, until one day when he thought how lovely it would be to spend both his days and nights under the sea-sky. Why should he, the loveliest of all fantasy animals, need to be subjected to the boring life of a child’s pony? And so he made up his mind to travel through the pond-gate and never return. However, that day, the little girl’s father, not knowing that the pond was a doorway to another land, filled the pond with dirt. He did not share his reasons why with the poor little pony, who became despondent over losing his dreamland. 

The pony that used to become a unicorn stopped eating, and soon began to waste away until he was just skin and bones. In fact, the little girl, upon discovering that her pony was nothing more than a stick horse, cast him away into a corner of the basement. There he gathered dust and spiderwebs until years later, when another child found him, and brought him out into the sunshine so he could once again be real. 

I hope you enjoyed that little story, but it doesn’t come without a point, and I hope you understood it without me needing to spell it out. Aren’t we a lot like this little pony? Or perhaps we’re more like the little girl. We create fantasy worlds that consume our minds and our lives. I’m not saying imagination is bad — hey, I just wrote a fable from my imagination and had an awesome time doing it — but when left to itself, our imagination can and does become corrupted (Gen. 6:5). Hypocrisy will always waste your life.

I used to convince myself that I was an amazing human, lying to myself about everything: my habits, my thoughts, my dreams, my future. I lived in a fantasy world, in which I was everything I wanted to be. In reality, I cheated in school, I watched things that were against the rules of my parents, and I abused my body by overeating. I had problems, but I couldn’t face the truth of their existence, so I imagined myself as an exemplary Christian young lady instead.

In my fantasy world, I read my Bible every day, I was diligent in my school and always got high grades, and I was the model of health and fitness. That’s who I convinced myself I really was, and that’s who I tried to portray to my friends and family, except it wasn’t who I really was. Maybe I’m the only messed-up teenager who’s ever done that, but I really don’t think I am. 

Too many of this generation are trapped in escape worlds, dreaming about what they wish their lives would be instead of embracing the reality of God’s perfect plan. Now, I know there are some of you who live in some pretty tough situations, and to you I say, God will use what you’re going through as a means of strengthening you and bringing you closer to Him so you can help others. To those who have good homes and good churches and good…well, everything (kind of like me growing up), wake up to the blessings that God has given you.

Whoever you are and whatever situation you’re in, don’t waste your life. God’s plan for you has already started. Your life has already begun. It might even already be half over, and yet so many of us live in some pretense of maturity that we hope no one sees through. It’s too hard and too complicated to mess with reality, so we just pretend we know what we believe and repeat words that mean nothing to us. 

You can’t live in a fantasy world forever. Someday it will collapse around you and you will realize how much time you’ve wasted. I hope you wake up sooner than I did. I was a senior in high school when I stared into a mirror and told myself the horrid truth about who I was. Then I walked into my brother’s room and nearly took my own life because of how incredibly messed up I’d allowed myself to become. I still don’t know why I picked up his Bible instead of his gun, but I praise my Savior for caring about me enough to show me His love that day. 

I am amazed every day at Who my God is, and what He has given to me through His Son Jesus Christ. I can tell you this without a shadow of a doubt: reality is better than fantasy, but only because of Jesus. If you don’t know my Savior and my Friend, let us know. We would be more than happy to introduce you to Someone Who is Real.