The Resurrected Life
The journey towards a wholeness
What does it mean to live the resurrected life? How does the resurrected life look?
I was pondering over the “resurrected life” recently. Taking it to prayer, I was led to the concept of ‘being clothed’. As I searched scripture, I landed upon 2 Corinthians.
“Yes, indeed, in this present tent, we groan under the burden, not that we want to be stripped of our covering, but because we want to be covered with a second garment on top, so that what is mortal in us may be swallowed up by life.” — 2 Cor 5:4, NJB
In my reflection, “present tent” refers to our life on earth. It may refer to our lives with bits of it wounded by life’s harsh experiences and broken relationships. It may refer to the secular mindset of pursuing financial stability that is ingrained in many societies. The “present tent” may be many other principles, attitudes, or behaviours that are not life-giving but permeate our lives. Any of these put upon ourselves are burdensome regardless of whether we are aware of it.
As an example, a person who is constantly seeking validation from others. Receiving affirmation brings one to cloud nine while criticism crashes the person. In an extreme case, a lack of acknowledgement may bring the person on a downward spiral. Being extremely sensitive to the comments from others, the person is on a roller coaster of emotions. A tiresome way to live. And if the emotions spill over to others, it also becomes tiring to those around. Since the person feels unaccepted for who he/she is, the experience may shape the person to be a people-pleaser. Even if relationships perpetuating such dispositions have ended, pleasing others might have been so deeply-rooted that it continues in other settings by default. What a burden this might be, to self and those around.
Strangely, 2 Cor 5:4 does not indicate to us to rid of these burdens, but to be “covered with a second garment on top”.
Back to the example, this behaviour continues until it dawns on the person that he/she could be accepted for who he/she is. It may be an experience of receiving a simple compliment that recognises the person’s inherent uniqueness rather than what the person did. The compliment communicates something greater. It shows that he/she is already pleasing for who he/she already is. There is no need to expend tremendous effort to please another to be accepted.
Perhaps, this new encounter may begin re-framing previous attitudes towards self and interactions with others. Seeing situations and relationships with new eyes, he/she may gradually gravitate away from the need to receive validation from others to feel secure. Rather he/she may recognise and take confidence in the qualities that he/she already possesses. Any compliments received are a bonus to an already stable self-esteem. Any critic goes through a self-evaluation for improvements. Strength is derived internally rather than dependent on external factors.
Adopting this new viewpoint is the “second garment”. The person carries a new confidence, no longer thriving on praises, or wallowing in any disapproval received. Without being overly sensitive to others’ remarks, interactions and relationships with others become healthier. The person becomes more of a joy to be around. A wholesome person.
The burden does become lighter. But it may never disappear. The person may remember the hurt from condemnation received, feelings of being unappreciated, or a sense of regret from broken relationships that might have ensued. These bear scars. However, by adorning a “second garment”, these burdens do not affect the person anymore. Instead, they become a badge of victory. They serve as a reminder of how far a person has come to attaining this state of freedom from what others might think. Undesirable attitudes have died and are “swallowed up by life”. Transformed into a new form, both scars and wholesome attitudes reveal the true meaning of life.
To me, this is the process of arriving at living a “resurrected life”. For some time, we suffer and carry the burdens of undesirable aspects of our lives. These aspects may be relationships, principles, perceptions, attitudes, etc. By the grace of God, an encounter allows us to realise that these aspects are chaining us to negativity. Negativity could be in the form of discontentment, frustration, anger, etc. Then, we walk these undesirable aspects to their death, letting go of these chains of negativity. When we are free of these chains, we become free to adopt mindsets and behaviours of virtue. We become transformed. A new self, a new life, a “resurrected life” emerges.
I have only used one example of an attitude of ours walking to its death, being resurrected and transformed. There are many parts of ourselves that we can take baby steps towards transformation every day. What are your examples?
