Meant to Live

Thoughts on second life.

Hello Everyone!

Switchfoot wrote a song called “Meant to Live.” You’ve probably heard it. If not, I’d recommend playing it loud in your car with the windows rolled down.

One line in the song goes like this:

“And everything inside screams for second life.”

I love how Jon Foreman laces theology into his lyrics. This is a universal gettable, and it’s a little riff (see what I did there?) on the theological concept of second life, second chances, and that we were made for so much more. To me, this also touches on Ecclesiastes 3—how we have eternity in our hearts, but we are frustrated because we can’t quite grasp it.

We all know, without being told by a professor or scientist or other kind of “expert,” that everyone inside their heart of hearts longs for a second life—a second chance, a new path, another shot.

But it’s not just about a second chance. It’s about the more of life. That more that we know is there, out there somewhere waiting for us.

The more of life. Second life. Think about what you feel like when you say those words out loud to yourself.

There’s something beneath each moment of existence that whispers to us, “There’s more than you know, than you see, than you fee—and it’s me.”

Who’s the me?

The Corn King

God created the world on a structure of second life, of more than, of death and resurrection.

Consider the seasons. Each season is beautiful in its time. Spring and Summer bring vegetable life to the earth. From seeds, food comes forth.

In Autumn, we harvest. And the plants die in a conflagration of wonder—leaves turn to colors of fire, plants turn golden, then brown, then fade into the earth, and their seeds fall into the soil.

The seed comes from the dying plant and lies, entombed by the earth. This is Winter—where the earth sleeps, roots deepen, and the quiet land rests in wait for the great resurrection.

Spring.

C.S. Lewis loved this pattern of death and resurrection. He loved how, even in pagan myths, there were dying gods who, each season, would come forth in the jubilance of Spring only to die in Autumn. All pagan religions have their version of a Corn King—the dying and resurrecting seasonal gods.

But, in typical Lewis fashion, Lewis spun the pagan myth into The Myth Become Fact.

He called Jesus, The (once and for all) Corn King. Jesus doesn’t die each season only to rise again the next. His dying was not for the season crops—he was not the god of nature, but her Creator. Jesus’s death and resurrection made all things new.

The great second chance for all of humanity and for creation. The great so much more to life. The great emptying of glory into the soiled muck of humanity.

The Cycle from Despair to a Garland of Beauty

In our popular praise songs, we love to sing about how Jesus turns ashes into beauty. This is from Isaiah 61:3. But this verse does not say that Jesus gives beauty to ashes or turns ashes into beauty. It’s talking about the coming Messiah and how The Anointed One will come to us in our mourning and despair and raise us up, placing on our heads a beautiful garland. It’s a theological replacement theory.

The Anointed One—The Corn King—will go down to raise us up to him—to be with him. The prophet is proclaiming the Gospel message of the Dying God. He is telling the mythical story over 700 years before it happens of this vagabond healer who will reach into our sadness and grief and he will cover us with the beauty of his presence.

This remarkable prophecy tells of the second chance, the so much more, we all so long for.

The Cycle of Death to Beauty

I was reflecting on this whole replacement theory idea—that God replaces our grief with a beautiful garland, this metaphor for himself. And I told my wife how if you think about it, the world is founded upon the cycle of death to beauty.

We are constantly witnessing the death of vegetable life, waiting and wondering through the dead time of winter, only to find the garland of beauty captured in the bursting of Spring!

I said to her, “Our whole cycle of living is based on this replacement idea. Each day, we live through the replacement—ashes of the dead miraculously rising forth, given to us as a garland of beauty each Spring!”

It’s like we’re living our own Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The replenishment cycle sparks a thirst for holy fire. It’s the spark of meant to live, the pull towards so much more.

But here’s the best part for you and me. Though we live in the replenishment cycle of death to beauty, it does not have to mark our hearts, our countenance, or our families.

Christ covers us—he himself is our garland of beauty. He is our second chance. And this spiritual so much more transfers into our physical need for so much more.

More to life. More than muck. Mor than all the death.

We don’t need to live in failure or doubt or grief or hurt or loss.

When we wrap ourselves in the garland of Christ, our so much more is right here and now.

---

What This Space is All About

As always, my goal here is to create a space that provides writing that inspires, equips, and guides readers to live a faithful Christian life in the secular world.

I want to serve this community through my writing, research, and teaching in theology, culture, and the arts. I aim to do this by cultivating this community and pouring into you all as we spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

For thoughtful evangelical writing and scholarship to flourish, we need a community of readers and supporters.¹

I’d be honored if you’d consider supporting my work by becoming a paid subscriber. It’s because of wonderful readers like you that this space can continue to thrive and grow.

Paid subscribers can support my work here at three subscription levels: Monthly, Annual, and Founding Member.

What’s a “Founding Member? When you become a Founding Member (guys, we need a great name for our Founding Members!) you pay it forward by allowing me to comp paid memberships to those who need it—think of it like our scholarship fund. Founding Members also act as ministry partners who want to see the vision of this space expand into gatherings and printed resources (see below).

---

New Resources Available to You

The Summer Slowdown

Make this summer memorable—make it life-changing. Be intentional with the time God’s given you and find nourishment in slowing, seeing, and participating. God created us to thrive on soulish things, and that’s what The Summer Slowdown will give you.

The Summer Slowdown is what I call a mini-course or mini-workshop. When you purchase this creative resource you get three thirty-minute teaching sessions on my “Slowdown Methodology.” The teaching sessions are accompanied by a 98-page magazine that I wrote and designed. The magazine contains inspirational insights into the Slowdown Methodology and a 31-day Slowdown Challenge.

The Writer’s Workshop

I’ve been hosting The Writer’s Workshops for the last four months and have now moved them to Substack. Each month, I host a live Zoom workshop on all things writing. The Zooms include a lengthy Q&A session where I answer all your questions about writing and publishing.

We have three subscription options for The Writer’s Workshop: Monthly, Annually, and The Writer’s Cohort. Click over to the site and see what it’s all about.

Notes

1. Nadya Williams, “The Future of Evangelical Scholars (and Their Scholarship Too),” Current (blog), August 1, 2023, https://currentpub.com/2023/08/01/the-future-of-evangelical-scholars-and-their-scholarship-too/.