I've heard the statement, "Truth is that which is real to me."

But, that is living in the same physical world, yet often denying the facts of it.

Yes, feelings are real ...but, that doesn't mean the facts upon which they are based are true.

I once worked in a  Children's Institution ...and I was assigned a young teenage girl who was in the early stages of one acting out anorexic behavior.  She really seemed to think she was fat. Standing outside and letting the sun cast a close shadow on the building, I could ask her which shadow was fattest ...and she was too polite to say.  Eventually, I asked to see some photos of her when she was younger.  She had been on the track team at school.  I asked her if she knew that when she ran track she was more muscular and probably had less fat then ...than she likely had now, and that she likely ate all she wanted, felt healthier, and was happier about herself.

I think I eventually got through to her.  But, I was yet to have a bigger challenge ...as I was assigned another patient who was way more advanced with her struggle.  She was much taller, and liked basketball ...so, I told her I would take her to the gym if she agreed to eat a couple bites of something at 15 minute breaks.  She played hard, and she ate ...and I knew that she wasn't secretly doing something with the food because she was playing too energetically to stop to allow herself to get rid of the food.  And she wouldn't be able to run and cough it up, or I'd be also slipping in it as I played.

The problem was, that her therapist told her she couldn't play basketball anymore until she gained 5 pounds. It spelled failure as soon as the focus was on weight gain ...and it didn't help either that her therapist appeared to be almost as skinny as she was, and trying to be the one to control the situation.

Yes, feelings are real.  Comparisons are often damaging.  And attempting to force feelings usually spells disaster. Yet, though we may think we are wise ...what we do often doesn't work, and truth escapes us.

I know there are some who think they live in St. Elsewhere ...where reality can be whatever their mind can conceive it to be.  You can take a dozen people for a boat ride out into the vast ocean, to a place infested with sharks.  If all twelve people jump off the boat, I doubt the sharks would ignore those individuals who believed in their minds that the sharks were not there. Those individuals may survive a few minutes longer, as they may not be making as large of a commotion, attracting the shark's immediate attention ...but if there were enough sharks and they were hungry enough, the sharks would still exist whether they believed it or not. Though sadly, they themselves may not exist much longer.

I acknowledge that feelings do matter, the people who have the feelings matter, and both they and the feelings are real.  But, there are other things outside of ourselves that are real also ...and they do exist.

God exists ...and He doesn't just exist in each of our minds, in whatever convenient form we choose.  Real interactions and real things He has done are recorded in the Bible.  And if you are overwhelmed by reading the beginning (the Book of Genesis and beyond) ...then go to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are real people who didn't follow an imaginary person. They followed the real Son of God ...Jesus.

And I really hope you can follow Him too.  It will be really beneficial for you.