I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)”
“You never seem happy” the acutely honest barista said perceptively. Like a bucket of ice water, this hurt as much as it jolted me back to life. Granted, she said this in the dead of morning prior to a caffeine rush. I like to think that description would be true of anyone with a soul and an early morning substance abuse problem. If joy is a defining attitude of a follower, then in my pride I wander. No one wants to be that guy. The guy who looks at success merely as failure that hasn’t revealed itself yet. Even if life is cruel and meaningless, who wants to hear about it continually? Should we not live past these circumstances and transcend to something more peaceful? Something more Zen?
The barista continued: “if everyone you know died, how would you live?” Wow, she went dark quick. I felt a carpe diem type speech coming on so I abruptly changed the subject. You know, no one wants to talk about mass fatality before coffee. It’s bad form. While she was good natured, her comments were poignant. If I can’t fake it for a brief interaction in the most non-threatening of places, then something is wrong.
Where is this abundant life Jesus promised? I look within Church walls, and I don’t see it. Are we doing this faith thing correctly? Are we so burdened with the demands of tomorrow that we fail to see the abundance of today? When we see the life of Jesus, it was undoubtedly ripe with burden, yet it was unmistakably abundant. While humble, Jesus was no minimalist. All He did was to the extreme. Or perhaps it is extreme only because it looks so alien to our own lives.
I love this passage, with all it’s frustrations, because it gives this current life value. It shows today to be important in all it’s fragile beauty and conflicting peace. Today, live abundantly. Eat that second donut. Kiss your lover passionately. Invest all you have into something beautiful, regardless of circumstance.
Lord, give us this abundant life. Help us to go beyond Carpe Diem and to the marrow of a life lived passionately through you.
Matt simon blog 