Fully Alive

"The glory of God is a human being fully alive!"  Maybe that is what St. Irenaeus meant...or maybe it has been co-opted by the self-help movement.  Of course, we know that matter matters to God, because God became human...fully alive in Jesus Christ...so that we might be fully alive.  So there must be something about creation that causes the sacred to stir.

Psalm 112 has been called the ABCs of anthropology....what it means to be fully human.  Just as Psalm 111 started with praise...so does 112.  There is something in praise that ties humans and the divine together.  Psalm 112 invites us as humans to be open to God, to not cling to fear, to be generous and gracious.  It is easy sometimes to turn this litany into a "do-to list" as though God requires this...which is a slippery slope to God demands this...and we find ourselves trying to appease an angry, frowning God whose unconditional love which now seems rather conditional!

As a preacher we are often cautioned to watch when we are saying, "Ought" or "Should" to our church on Sunday.  It is easy to turn a sermon into a speech where we want to inspire our church to go out and live faithfully in this prescriptive way.  We want to describe, but big enough to embrace the diversity...yet tight enough that it doesn't feel like anything goes.

So, we keep on striving toward fully alive.  For me, I try to pay attention to moments when I think, "I could do this forever."  That doesn't mean it is always magical and majestic.  I feel fully alive when I am reading novels, watching movies, running, laughing with my family, and writing.  Most of the time, those moments fill me full of energy...sometimes though...they don't.  To feel fully alive is not a vending machine or gas pump.  To feel fully alive is a relationship that takes works, goes through seasons, and has twists and turns.  Yet, in the midst of the journey, something continues to beckon you forward.

What are the ABCs for you of feeling fully alive?
What brings you joy?
When have you though, "I was made for this"?

May those questions stir within you for days to come.