The energy that we call life is a mystery. When materially based science attempts to trace life to its origins, they look to the fossil record. The earliest life forms were apparently single celled creatures that inhabited the oceans. Through billions of years, more complex forms developed. What is not known is how the energy of life began animating these biological forms. Science says, it just happened.
However things started, this living energy is, as John says, the light of each one of us. I believe this life that is our essence predates all organisms, that it has no beginning and no end. As I think about this, I’m struck with a sense of awe that this eternal gift is given to me, as me, the same realization Jesus may have had when he said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).
When we describe a person as being full of life, we are usually referring to their enthusiasm for living. If we feel a lack of enthusiasm, it may be good to contemplate this ageless energy that we are. It’s easy to bottle it up in restricting perceptions, affirmations of being too old and too tired. The life that we are does not age and it does not wear out. Yes, the organism does both of these things, but we are not the organism. Before Abraham was, we were too. That thought alone is energizing.
If this sounds farfetched, consider that science tells us our body is about 60% water, and that water is one of the oldest substances on earth. So, 60% of the physical body could actually be billions of years old. Can we not imagine our life energy having even more resilience than water?
Though this kind of thinking can be fun, we really don’t need to get this exotic to recognize and affirm the creative life force of God enlivens our mind, energizes our body, and constantly creates new opportunities for greater expression through every facet of our existence. The gift of life will never wane. It is as alive now as ever. God is life and you and I are expressions of God. Keep this thought on the front burner of your thinking and watch it stir up creatively new possibilities.