Slightly Alive

A few weeks ago I was at a street fair. There was a live band playing cover songs and a roped in area for people to stand and listen. The area was empty, except for one little girl, probably around 5 years old. She was wearing a yellow sundress and she was dancing. Do you remember how boys danced at the high school Homecoming dance? The movement was almost imperceptible, feet barely stepping side to side, the occasional head bob. Well, this was nothing like that. This was all out, full-body dancing, spinning, twirling, jumping, arms waving. She looked exactly how I want to feel- exuberant, alive, and free.


Don’t worry, I’m not about to tell you to dance like no one is watching. I am going to ask when the last time was that you felt exuberant, alive, and free. In John 10:10 Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Saint Irenaeus wrote, “The glory of God is man fully alive.” Do you feel fully alive? Do you feel like a clean mirror, able to radiantly reflect the glory of God? I want to be clear; I am not talking about a life free from struggles or pain. Rather, I am talking about a living fully engaged, renewed, refreshed, spiritually and emotionally filled. I believe this is how we were made to live, but that very few people actually live this way.

I have loved the movie Princess Bride for most of my life. In one of my favorite scenes, the hero, Wesley, has been tortured to death. His comrades bring him to Miracle Max to see if anything can be done. Max examines Wesley and says that he’s seen worse. He declares Wesley “mostly dead” and says “mostly dead is slightly alive.” I believe that many of us go through life only slightly alive. We say that we have claimed new life in Christ, yet we still live as though we were more dead than alive.

There are many, many reasons why you may be living only slightly alive. Some are spiritual, some are physical, some are psychological. If you are not living fully alive, the reasons why are bound to be complex. Some of these reasons may be very deep, and may require intense spiritual and/or psychological intervention. But for some of us, there may be no big reason why we aren’t living life to the fullest. Instead, it’s dozens of small choices and irritations that harden us and separate us from the life we were made to live. Just like little rodents can ruin a beautiful garden, seemingly insignificant choices can separate us from our fullest life. I am going to spend the next two posts exploring some of these small choices that slowly sabotage the full life we could be living.

For now, I challenge you to think about what Miracle Max might say about you. Are you only slightly alive? When was the last time you felt exuberant, alive, and free? Picture yourself there. Where were you? Who was around? What made that moment so special? These are important questions. As you look back on that memory, ask yourself how you can add more of those moments to your life. If you have a hard time finding a memory, it’s probably time to make some changes.