Man vs. Wild is one of my favorite TV shows. For those of you who do not watch the show, it is about survival. Bear Grylls goes all over the world showing us how to survive in all kinds of situations and climates. Most of the time he is helicoptered into marshes, snow covered mountain peaks or a savannsh in Africa somewhere and he has to survive until he comes into contact with civilization somewhere. So he goes on these epic adventures all over the world. He has walked the savannas of Africa and come within yards of wild lions and elephants. He has walked the frozen tundra of Siberia. He has scaled mountains and walked through the bad lands of South Dakota. He has jumped of waterfalls and swam in frozen lakes. He has eaten…well…just about everything from snakes to grubs. He has drank…use your imagination when there is no water around.
Each week he goes on a different adventure. I love to watch them. Is it real? Some is and some is not. But none the less he out in the world going on adventures. I love that! And you can tell he loves it–just by the way he speaks while on the adventures. It is pretty amazing to see the joy he has while on the adventures. He is even teaching his children to love adventures.
I think I love this show because deep down inside of me, I love to go on adventures. To be a part of something…to get caught up in the story of an adventure, now that excites me.
St. Brendan would write. . .
Shall I abandon, O King of Mysteries, the soft comforts of home? Shall I turn my back on my native land, and my face towards the sea? Shall I put myself wholly at the mercy of God, without silver, without horse, without fame and honour? Shall I throw myself wholly on the King of kings, without sword and shield, without food and drink, without a bed to lie on? Shall I say farewell to my beautiful land, placing myself under Christ’s yoke? Shall I pour out my heart to him, confessing my manifold sins and begging forgiveness, tears streaming down my cheeks? Shall I leave the prints of my knees on the sandy beach, a record of my final prayer in my native land? Shall I then suffer every kind of wound the sea can inflict? Shall I take my tiny coracle across the wide, sparkling ocean? O King of Glorious Heaven, shall I go of my own choice upon the sea? O Christ will you help me on the wild waves?
I believe these are the questions of someone who desires to be on an adventure with God. The answer the adventurer gives in his heart is a whole heartedly YES! “It is important that life is lived with a sense of partaking in something bigger than ourselves.” (David Adam)
Adventures with God give us the awareness of “something bigger than ourselves”. Adventures speak straight to our heart. They are sirens that sing the songs of God and his story. And we get to partake of them with God.
Let us hear the call to come forth out of our boring, controlled lives and live in the uncertain wild that adventuring with God brings. Let us leave the land of safety. . .and explore waters of trust. Let us leave the ground of familiarity. . .and enter into the waters of mystery. Let us embark on the great adventure with God.
Shall I. . .YES!
