"Life"

It has been a long time since I have written. Too long, in fact; writing helps me stay honest about myself, my journey, and my growing experiences. Writing also helps me stay in touch with those of you that I have difficulty maintaining frequent contact with. I have recently realized that my massive circle of friends is impossible to stay in touch with, at least with my current lifestyle. But just because I don’t talk to you often doesn’t mean I don’t think about all of you often…

Life. The best analogy I can think of for it is one of those gimmick “penny funnels” that are placed in malls for the sole purpose of enticing children to beg their parents for donations. A coin placed on the edge of the funnel travels to the center in an inexorably tighter orbit, spiraling towards the terminating of its dance with gravity in a mesmerizing, beautiful, and brief exhibition. So too, go our lives: for no matter how fast or slow we travel, all our lives terminate in the same place. Death; the great leveler, the end of the story, waits for all. And matter how many revolutions we make around the center, in the end the sum of our orbital repetitions will seem but a fleeting moment. So what then?

Impact. Though the previous paragraph may seem to be a muse on futility, it is most emphatically not. Rather, it is a call; a call to revolution, a call to devotion, a call to abandon…most importantly, a call to wake. Too often we fail to realize the value of the lives we live, or the potential impact of the everyday implications of our decisions, imagination, and action. We live in a world of chaos, a system gone wrong, and a reality that is more often than not, painful. Injustice, suffering, oppression, and hate have become our twisted normalcy. We have accepted things the way they were never intended to be, and we find no peace in this world. The footsteps of our journey through life are dogged by the twin ghosts of unrealized possibility and missed opportunity. No wonder we question! No wonder we hunger and thirst for more! No wonder we can never quite convince ourselves to settle; the only way to truly silence the whispers of our soul is to end life itself. If there is more to live, if we hunger to be truly alive, then what is the answer? Where is life?

We spend much of our lives looking for life, desperately attempting to realize our place in the story we find ourselves in. Who am I? Where do I belong? With whom do I belong? The questions push us onward, prodding us to search deeper and higher and farther, until we find life and peace, or until we settle for less and try to kill the questions. Sadly, most of us settle for the latter rather than the former solution. In light of this fact, I ask you – do you want to live? Do you want life? Life in its fullest? Meaning? Significance? Identity? Community? When did you sell out your soul for a respite from the questions? What part you have you sacrificed for a little sanctuary from your irresistible desire to live? O sleeper, do you want to wake? You who hold onto a delirious half-life, would you die to truly live?

We approach Easter, the day we who follow Jesus claim to celebrate His resurrection. But is life what we are about? Are we, like that itinerant homeless preacher named Paul said , living a “life of Love” like Him who we claim to follow, and are we part of the story and movement of Jesus at all? Whether you are a church-raised-dyed-in-the-wool-pulpit-pounding Christian or someone completely disconnected from Christianity let me tell you this: this Easter that we make such a big deal over, is about one thing - life. That’s it. L-I-F-E. The kind you can only get from death. Life that is totally focused outside of yourself and life that never ends. Life that brings peace, hope, and joy to this broken reality called the 21st century. “Life to the fullest”

Life that costs you everything to live, the only life worth living…That’s the point of the Resurrection. If Jesus is not truly alive, not truly risen, then you can throw this in the trash. If he did rise, then doesn’t that change everything? Every moment? Forget your failures, screw ups, and problems – He’s offering you life – with identity, community, peace, love, and joy. Not the kind you get at church. Not the kind you get from wearing a cross. Not the kind you get from sex, drugs, televangelists, church productions, attention, or any other distraction. Life. Life to the fullest…

“I have come to give them life, life to the fullest…”
-Jesus

[Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.] [Matthew 11:28-29]