INTRODUCING

“Burst of Life,” an original Vessels of Light summer poetry journal focused on celebrating the divine creation of life that lives around and within us. From the beginning of time, this world has been “teeming” with wild, vivacious, God-breathed life (Genesis 1:20). Everywhere you look, you will find some sign of what the Greeks call Bios ( Βίος ), or physical life — whether it be bright turquoise waves rolling into the frothy white shore or a school of colorful fish swimming underneath them, tropical volcanoes erupting with blazing red lava or sweet, warm rain showering luscious green jungles filled with ripe fruit trees — as embodied beings who crave life that we can experience with our five senses (sight, sound, scent, taste, and touch), tangibly grasping and savoring nature, this physical sign of life is absolutely exhilarating to witness and absorb.

But it doesn’t stop there; this isn’t the only kind of life that exists. Zoe (ζωή), the Greek word for eternal life, is an entirely different spiritual phenomenon that happens to be the main inspiration behind this summer poetry journal. This is the kind of divine, eternal life that is radically birthed within us at the moment of true belief in Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of the world. When we experience true Zoe, we are miraculously transformed from the inside out. Our soul spiritually “becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within” ( John 4:14-NLT), exploding with joy and bursting with life that never dies! Simply put, an inner catalyst takes place that changes us for all of eternity, charging us with everlasting life that will never run out.

C.S. Lewis put it this way in his book, Mere Christianity: “A man who changed from having Bios to having Zoe would have gone through as big a change as a statue which changed from being a carved stone to being a real man. And that is precisely what Christianity is about. This world is a great sculptor’s shop. We are the statues and there is a rumor going around that some of us are some day going to come to life.” 

In desiring to cherish the external beauty of creation while capturing this internal spiritual phenomenon within humanity, this journal was looking for your most vibrant language for this collection, an outpour of zealous life within the lines of your poetry, revealed through a rush of passionate Christ-centered light. We wanted to explore the question: Even in the midst of present darkness, how have you experienced an explosively life-changing “burst of life” in your living and active relationship with Jesus? We wanted to house life-giving, deep-image, unconventional, passionate, experimental, joy-filled, Avant-Garde, and utterly epiphanic poetry to cherish and celebrate within this lively literary lighthouse, and the culminated outcome of this collection embodies just that and more!

How can we not burst with joy and pour out continual praise over the life God has given us! In Jesus Christ, we are most certainly transformed from human stone to breathing spirit, mere flesh and blood to a “living vessel of light” by the power of the Holy Spirit, and this is no small phenomenon; we can’t help but explode with joy. 

The ultimate prayer for this poetry journal is that you will encounter a brilliant burst of life from each passionate poem, and be reminded of the everlasting gift provided to us through Jesus who, as our Living Water, stirs a never-dying, powerful wave of eternal life in our believing hearts. Everyone who comes to genuine faith in God can experience this extraordinary shift from mere Bios ( Βίος ) to wild Zoe (ζωή)! Let this poetry be a true testament to that.

A special thank you to my go-to photography sister, Gabrielle Johnson (ChasingHorizonsPhotography), who provided all of the bright ocean photography for this special summer journal.

May this poetry journal bring explosive joy to every reader!

Keep Burning Brightly,

Alexis Leigh Ragan