Life to the Full

If, as Jesus said, "I have come that you might have Life and Life to the full", then a) How does onE get 'more' of this LIFE and b) What gets in the way?

What brings Life to you?  Better question.  If you have Life, how did you get it?  

There are three Greek words for 'life': 

1. bios - physical life related to your body

2. psuche - soul life (the psychological life of the human soul)

3. zoe - spirit life (the God-kind of life)

 

We find it very hard to put words to the question, "What, really, is Life?" 

 

But Jesus makes the offer to humankind in John 10 and claims he can bring 'Life' to the human spirit. OK.  Let's say you have encountered this Jesus.  And (for discussion's sake) let's say you have received this 'zoe' (or the God-kind of Life).  

 

What does it mean to have it 'abundantly' or 'to the full'.  Maybe it's more than a binary switch that God turns from 'death' to 'Life'. If we think about 'more Life' in terms of joy, peace, deep fulfillment, kindness in the face of antagonism, patience in the midst of long-deferred dreams, ... here's the question:

 

"How do you get 'more' of That?"  And, "What gets in the way?"

 

These are questions we  (our Band of Brothers or BANDO for short) have been tackling these past weeks. You're invited to join us, and participate with the discussion here. 

 

Jon Nash (the man featured in the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind), had a burning passion to "matter" AND he had the unique gift of a powerful way of seeing all of life.

 

But he also faced crippling obstacles.  In the film, his wife (Alicia) becomes a powerful avenue of Life to him - in the form of unimaginable Love. In the pain of their suffering, she declares, "I need to believe that something extraordinary is possible!"

 

This great Story haunts me in the face of the pain and suffering people face as long as they live on this planet.  But Life is still promised in the midst of it.  We'll keep taking a deeper look at this idea in the new year, and the Larger Story from which it borrows.  This scene beautifully depicts an answer to Jon's question, "What is real?"