What’s a moment in your life that made you feel truly alive?
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I tend to feel truly alive when a new era of my life begins. It might be the beginning of a new school or job, or relationship. Perhaps some moments on holidays or hearing great songs make me feel truly alive. I remember Walls Come Tumbling Down by The Style Council having such an effect on me in 1985. Though it used a biblical analogy (walls of Jericho), it was Paul Weller singing about his dislike of Maggie Thatcher and the Tories. Much as I liked Paul Weller, I had drifted away from left-wing politics by the mid 1980s. But I tend to focus more on the mood of a song than the specifics of the lyrics.
And when I hear this one, I can apply it to my spiritual life, and I can think of God removing barriers or things that might trouble me physically, emotionally or spiritually. And the song encourages us to be active rather than passive – to take initiative. And whatever our politics or religion, we can work together to make the world a better place.
If I’m to choose one moment, that I felt truly alive, it was when I committed my life to Christ. And in that case, it wasn’t only a matter of “feeling” truly alive. That was the beginning of my spiritual life. This happened in August 1980, when I was 18. I had spent five years knowing that I should do it, but I dithered. But I didn’t want to spend any more time dithering. I feared that it might be a short phase, but it wasn’t. Committing your life to Christ doesn’t turn you into a perfect person. It’s a matter of repenting, accepting the gift of salvation, and committing yourself to discipleship – being a student, willing to learn and grow. Students aren’t perfect, but a good teacher motivates and brings out the best in his students. And though Jesus might rebuke us for our failings, we belong to Him and He loves us. I sometimes compare it to adopting a child. How many people bring the child back to the orphanage if they get a bit tired of them? I doubt that very many do that, and Jesus certainly doesn’t abandon us once we truly commit ourselves to Him.
Here’s two of my favourite New Testament passages:
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
Ephesians 2:1-10
You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the children of disobedience. 3 We also all once lived among them in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, that no one would boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
Here are two secular songs from the summer of 1980 that make me feel alive – they were very poppy. I might have been shy about admitting that I liked them, but they were happy songs – a nice contrast to the punk stuff that I listened to over the previous few years 😀:
And here are a couple of Christian songs from the early 1980s that make me feel alive:
