What a lovely day, I thought, as I strolled on the hills of Yorkshire and enjoyed views of the farms and moors stretched out before me. I’d just found a bench and sat down to drink the sight in more deeply when I saw someone coming toward me pushing a stroller. But, wait! It was a dog in the stroller! In fact, it was a stroller built for a dog.
The man and his dog paused next to my bench. The dog wagged her tail at me while the man smiled and introduced her. “This is Meg,” he said. “She’s not a lazy dog, you know, but she is poorly.” He told me that Meg had just a few months to live, and that she had always loved running outdoors, exploring the world and enthusiastically greeting everyone she met. So he continued to take her with him on his walks.
Reaching over to the stroller, I rubbed behind Meg’s ears. “She’s had a full life,” I said.
“Yes, that’s it!” he said. “She’s lived life fully.” He watched Meg for a minute, and then he surprised me when he turned and asked, “and you, you’ve lived a full life, too, haven’t you?” Somehow we’d moved into a different conversation. “Yes,” I responded after a moment of reflection, “I have had a full life.” He nodded and was silent.
Although this conversation was four weeks ago, the question by the stranger who was taking Meg for a walk still haunts me. Have I lived fully? And what does it mean to live a full life anyway?
I do know that the stranger wasn’t asking how busy my life was. We weren’t reflecting on how many responsibilities or activities or possessions filled my life. We weren’t talking about living smooth lives with good fortune blessing all our days.
In the Gospel of John Jesus talks about how he has come so that “they may have life and have it to the full.” (10:10b NIV) The way of living that Jesus was teaching is truly the path to living more fully. Some translations use the word abundantly to describe Jesus’ purpose: “so that they may have life and have it more abundantly.”
A full life, an abundant life, is really about a way of living, an approach to living all of our days. In turning the adjective full into the adverb fully, I’m picturing a life of openness with arms stretched out to embrace others, a life of being alive and engaged in God’s world. I’m picturing us living in harmony with Jesus’ teachings.
At times it is easier to be open and engaged than at other times. Sometimes we may feel closed and guarded, even scared and untrusting. I want to live fully, even though I sometimes feel uncertain and guarded. But in all the seasons of our lives, however they may be shaped, we can try to follow old Meg’s way of living. How can we do that?
Living fully or abundantly means being willing to receive the stranger as a potential friend. It is being awake to the world around us and noticing the miracle of beauty in the change of seasons. Living fully for us humans means offering our individual gifts so that we are more fully alive in their use. For example, writing is a gift of mine, and when I offer it, I feel more alive.
Most of all, living fully is loving, being open to both the giving and receiving of love. In Jesus’ words, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34 NIV) May your living, my friend, be full and abundant, and may you overflow with love.
If this story has spoken to you, please share it with others.
Your reflection which includes “receiving the stranger as a potential friend” moves me to more deeply & fully live out that openness.