Living life to the full
This term at Junior School Kew, we have relaunched Chapel Services, moving away from the House structure to year level cohorts. So much happens in between the ages of four and 12 that pitching a meaningful and relevant Chapel Service is more achievable in this new model.
Each Chapel
Service had the same theme anchored by the Bible quote from Jesus pictured on
the Chapel wall: ‘I have come that you might have life to the full’. The
questions raised throughout the Chapels were, who is Jesus? Why would anyone
listen to him? And what does he mean by full?
Through song, dance, story books, lollypop and chocolate milk illustrations, as well as real-life modern-day stories, we discussed these questions.
The quote comes from The New Testament book of John chapter 10, verse 10. So much can be said and taken from the verse, but for us the focus was on how Jesus wants us to experience life: to live life to the full. The original Greek uses the word (written in English) perisson, which means abundantly. As I think about the ways we might use the word abundantly, I think of a plant growing in abundance. Such circumstances would mean healthy soil and a limited number of things to threaten or disturb it. Life does not always seem to be without such things. The question theologians would discuss is, ‘When is this life to the full supposed to happen?’ It is Jesus’s desire and plan for us, but is it our future hope, rather than something to expect immediately?
As adults, perhaps we could look at it a different way. What do we have an abundance of in our lives? Our lives are indeed full. Are the things we fill our lives with helping us and those around us to grow abundantly? As we come to the end of Term 2, the mid-point in our year, we can pause to reflect and potentially readjust for the second half of the year. Our Chapel Services this term were a time of joy, and for some, they were thought provoking. I pray that your experience of life is as close to the way Jesus desires as is currently possible.
Blessings,
Rebecca Gaskell
Junior School Chaplain
