Friday, March 4, 2016

The Greatest Adventure

Life is for the living. 

"I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord." ~Psalm 118:17

I want to live. I want to be fully alive. I want people to know who I am truly--deeply. I want to be open and approachable. 

But I also want to forever be a great mystery

My heart longs for adventure. Sometimes I can hardly stand it. I must dance with the grass to the music of the wind. I must run through my precious hills, up the trails, and over rocks and twigs. I must push my body to its limits until my legs scream in pain and my heart pounds so violently I'm certain it will explode. 

But I want more than the hills surrounding my home; I want more than the adventures of my childhood. 

I want to see the the world. But not just see it--I want to be in it, a part of it. I want a to experience it. 

I want to dance on a beach at sunset and feel the grains of sand scratch between my toes. I want to breathe in ocean air and let it excite something deep inside of me that makes me sprint into the water, jump, and let the waves wash over my skin. 

I want to repel off a castle wall. 

I want to walk the streets of a foreign city at midnight. I want to be absorbed in other cultures. I want to eat strange foods, wear flowing, brightly-patterned clothes, and let my hair fall wild and free. I want to dance to their music and experience their parties. 

I want to read the Psalms on the edge of a cliff. I want to raise my hands in the air, face the stormy sea, and sing at the top of my voice. 

I want to be alive


Am I saying life is dependent on amazing experiences? What if I never do any of those things? Will I miss the opportunity to be fully alive? 

Such a mindset reflects the Post Modern worldview of our culture today. "I am what I see, feel, taste, do, say..." In Post Moderism, there is no bigger picture--no true story that applies to all people at all times. It says ultimate reality is unknowable (it does not say that it does not exist, but that we cannot know it). 

If we cannot know ultimate reality, and if there is no bigger picture, no overall story of humanity, then how I live my life is solely up to me. And if life is all about experience, then, to fully be alive, I must experience as much as I can--to the fullest level it can be experienced--right? 

But if there is a "big story" for all of humanity--a story of grace and redemption, a story of the greatest love and most heroic rescue--then there is more to life than the simple experience

I am more than what I see, feel, taste, do, and say, so my life is more than this as well. 

I could travel the entire world and still not truly live. So what does it mean to fully be alive? 

As I reflect on the moments in life when I felt most alive, I realize it's when I felt fully known. I felt understood. It's when I related deeply with others and with my Creator

To know, and to fully be known. 

I think this is what awakens our soul. 

And the One who fully knows us, is the Creator of both spirit and flesh--body and soul. 

And He, this omnipotent being, also desires for us to know Him and to have a relationship with Him. Without a relationship with Jesus Christ, you will never be fully alive. Call upon the One who died for you, so you may have life--to the fullest, and for eternity.  

For that, my friend, is the greatest ADVENTURE





8 comments:

  1. Oh I wish I had your wisdom when I was so young. You go Girl!!

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  2. So much truth. Thank you for reminding us of what is important-not the doing and running, but to be known. Love your words.

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  3. You're incredible. Much love...

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  4. and now, I trust, you are fully alive in a place that is not broken.

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  5. You are now having the most beautiful, complete, amazing adventure of all. Well done, good and faithful servant, well done.

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  6. Laura,
    I never knew you, here. But I cannot wait to meet you-- and rejoice in our King, together.

    Your words, even now, echo in me. Jesus, let me live-- to know You, to be known by You, and to live my life to bring others to know You, just as Laura did.

    Much Love, sister.

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