Lessons on Love and Eternity from The Velveteen Rabbit

On Being Real

Written by Bethany Blankley

The Velveteen Rabbit nurtures our imagination to experience love and eternity in an inspiring and transformative way. Through this classic tale, we can learn more about ourselves, our relationship with others, and our relationship with God.

“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit. “When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real,” said the Skin Horse, a wise toy in the nursery.

Being real for the Rabbit isn’t about being a toy but about wanting to be loved. Have you ever wondered what your purpose is and why you are alive? Scripture says we were created in God’s image to be loved by Him and to love Him.

Sometimes Love Hurts

“Does being real hurt?” the Rabbit asked. “Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”

Have you ever risked your sense of security or lived outside of your comfort zone to love someone? Did you find that loving that person was worth the risk? Has anyone you’ve loved hurt your feelings, let you down, or made you feel misunderstood or not understood at all? In life, we should expect disappointment and that people we will hurt us. However, we can look to God, the healer of all hurts and the author of love to guide us and enable us to live with and move past the hurt. We can take comfort that God “heals the brokenhearted and binds up our wounds.”

Inward Beauty

Over time the Rabbit grew older and despite how worn he became the Boy loved him even more. The boy loved him so much that his whiskers fell off and the pink lining to his ears turned grey. The Rabbit even began to lose his shape, and he scarcely looked like a rabbit any more, except to the Boy. To the Boy he was always beautiful, because when you are Real, shabbiness doesn’t matter.

Have you ever cared about someone so much that it didn’t matter if they were overweight, couldn’t see, or looked quite different then when you first met? God’s love has the power to renew us no matter how much we’ve changed: “Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed daily.”

Lost Love

Toys, including the Rabbit, were thrown into the rubbish to be burned because the Boy had scarlet fever. The Rabbit reminisced about all of the happy days he had had with the Boy and how happy they were. A great sadness came over him. He seemed to see the days pass before him, each more beautiful than the other, and the wonderful day when he first knew he was Real.

Do you remember when you first felt loved by someone and then lost him/her? Losing that special person—no longer being able to share life with him/her—exemplifies a sense of loss for which there are few words. Cherishing that person in our memory is important, but living the life that they would want us to live is as equally important.

Eternal Life

A mysterious flower began to grow where the Rabbit’s tear had fallen. It formed into a beautiful flower and blossomed and then opened. A fairy stepped out of it, came up to the Rabbit, and kissed him on his nose. “Little Rabbit,” she said, “I take care of all the playthings that the children have loved. When they are old and worn out and the children don’t need them anymore, then I come and take them away with me and turn them into Real.”

The Good News is that our earthly bodies must be transformed into new bodies so that they will never die. In fact, because of Christ, “We will not die, but we will be transformed! For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever.”

A Glimpse of Eternity

“Wasn’t I Real before?” asked the little Rabbit. “You were Real to the Boy,” the Fairy said, “because he loved you. Now you shall be Real to everyone.”

The Rabbit’s toy body was transformed to a real rabbit’s body. His whiskers grew to touch the grass and his tail moved and his fur was lustrous. He hopped and played in the grass and joined the other rabbits in the wood.

Who we are today is but a shadow of who we will be in the future. The shabbiness of our bodies, the loss of whiskers and of our shape, and our character defects, will be no more. In Christ, death will have no sting and our mourning will be transformed to celebrations of joy.