Living the "Fully Alive" Life

Do you know what a 6-pack of Diet Coke looks like in the back seat of your car in -35 degree weather? That’d be 35 degrees BELOW zero. If you guessed that the cans would be imploded with hundreds of little Coke-colored icicles clinging to the ceiling of the car and other surfaces, you’ve either seen this similar phenomenon or are just a good guesser. Some years ago I’d been visiting friends in Vermont at their ski house and, sleeping soundly in a cozy featherbed with a down comforter, I had no idea the temperature had plunged that low. True, it had been negligent of me to leave the Diet Coke in the car in the winter time. But I had a long drive ahead of me in the morning and this beverage has always been something which helps me stay alert at the wheel if I’m driving for a few hours at a time.
It was quite a shock to step out into such frigidness early that Vermont January morning. My car wouldn’t even humor me by making any noise at all when I turned the key. Nope. I wasn’t going anywhere until the weather warmed a bit. At least I was able to pluck out all the frozen cola before it thawed, leaving no trace of my messy mistake.
In the past week or so, there have been several below zero mornings here. There is a particular rigid silence when it is that cold. Just looking out at the trees covered in snow and ice with nothing moving, seemingly all turned to stone in such frozenness, there’s no need to see a thermometer to know it’s below zero. Such stillness was surprisingly broken one morning when a bright streak of bird song loudly broke the silence. It was like a rebellion of sorts. How could anything, especially one lone little bird, draw such breath and produce a vibrantly loud jubilant song amidst these icebound surroundings? It was remarkable! As if to mock the utter stillness of this Arctic frozenness, the bird song continued for some minutes. I was amazed. What a contrast to all else which was totally, solidly paralyzed in the cold.
These few minutes at the window, listening to the lighthearted bird singing boldly in an Arctic-like landscape made me think of the book PJ and I are currently reading. The main focus in John Eldridge’s "Waking the Dead" is drawn from this quote: “The glory of God is man fully alive” (from St. Irenaeus, an early church writer, a manuscript from 185 AD). Think about it for a moment. In our hectic, task-driven world, how “alive” are we as a whole or, more personally, are you? Typically we rise, do our quick morning routine of grooming, dressing, and maybe a little breakfast before hitting the door with possibly a few words of prayer tangled in the middle of getting ready for the day. We are consumed by thoughts, barraged by images, requests, news, complaints, anxieties etc. Often our inner dialogue is composed mainly of self-criticisms about why we can’t get something done faster, better, why we’re not exercising, eating better, losing weight….you name it. Seldom is our mind and even more importantly, our heart, quiet enough to hear what God is trying to say to us. So, in other words, we are nowhere near living a “fully alive” life.
At first blush the quote above might seem a little, well, too lofty and high-minded a notion for Christian people who are supposed to live in humility, giving praise and glory to the Lord for everything attained/experienced in life. BUT, when you consider this quote from Jesus, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10), isn’t that a big part of God’s whole idea? And as we are created in God’s image (Gen. 1:26) and He is all glory, then wouldn’t it follow that to be “fully alive” is our best gift to God? The fulfilling of His intention for us?
Ok, so how do we approach this? It takes time, willingness, awareness, and practice. The benefits we reap in personal peace and joy are more than worth learning a new attitude and mode of living. Basically we need to first break all the agreements we’ve made (and continue to make) with the Evil one that we are bad. All those ideas suggested in our minds, those critical thoughts, those condemning remarks --- they are not from God. It is important to remember that the father of lies, the Evil one, seeks to disrupt anything that would bring us the fullness of life and happiness that life in Jesus promises. If you think about it, really it is mostly us agreeing with these critical thoughts which make up a tremendous part of our picture of ourselves and colors the emotions we experience every day.
I am NOT saying we do not make bad choices, select unhealthy options etc. Yes we do, and we reap the consequences of them also. However, this is separate and apart from how we view ourselves and then also see others as well. Those critical little judgmental thoughts that creep into your mind about someone….where do you think they come from? Who do you think they come from initially before we agree with them? Yup. Freedom comes from recognizing this and saying stop! Proverbs 23: 7 says that how we think is how we are: “As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is”. If we’re thinking unkind, critical, judgmental toxic thoughts, they’re going to soon turn into how we’re feeling as well. As this may seem a bit daunting, here’s a quick filter through which to test things if you’re wondering if they’re the thoughts which get in the way of being “full alive”, living with peace and joy. It’s Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”.A-ha! Gottcha! If something happens to be true but it is NOT “lovely, admirable, praiseworthy” then it would follow that dwelling on it means taking on everything else that goes with it --- yucky thoughts produce yucky feelings. This Lent, why not take the opportunity to consciously renew your mind, become like the rebellious little songbird in the frozen winter and seek to be “fully alive” and reap the joy and goodness that Jesus came to bring us all. Amen!