The Great Adventure

Oh, the cravings of adventure.

On one level, our family as a whole is exactly two months into our new adventure living in Switzerland.

Individually, my two boys are in the midst of the “great adventure” of their lives. Living here is just a part of this “great adventure” as boys.

There is without a doubt something to be said about a boys need for adventure. It is engrained within us. From infancy, boys seem to crave kicking rocks down the road, climbing trees, running instead of walking, and/or making anything into a weapon.

“Men are often aggressive. They seem to have an inborn need to fight, to put themselves in conflict with the outer world in order to test themselves and to conquer it.” -Richard Rohr

Living here has only ignited these cravings. The culture here is geared towards adventure and the outdoors. Whether it is hiking trails, the walking tours, exploring the mountains, or riding bikes to and from school or work, the Swiss culture seems to not only promote a healthy lifestyle, but for boys, it stimulates adventure with the outside world. In a way, the culture in Switzerland enhances the spirit of exploration, challenge, and conquest.

As a father I watch this with great joy and yet at the same time an admitted sense of trepidation.

For their innate sense of adventure today in the trails of Switzerland will lead them someday, if they are open, to the same adventure of a deeper sense of self in life.

And this is the greatest of adventures. This is the adventure of all adventures. For this is the “Journey of their Souls”.

And yet, as I watch them run and find their way through the countryside, my trepidation lies in knowing what they just don’t know yet. That this great adventure is theirs, and theirs alone. They have to take ownership of it themselves. And as hard as it is to climb the mountain today, the next phase of this great adventure will be harder.

For what makes the next phase tougher is that everything that is necessary for this stage of their lives, for this part of their adventure, will paradoxically become a stumbling block for the next phase. For the next part is not so much about conquering but surrendering. Trusting instead of doing. Being instead trying. But they need to find that out for themselves. And this is what makes me anxious as a father. This is what brings me to my knees every night in their rooms.

So for today, I watch with joy, as they explore and run on the trails in the mountains. For tomorrow will come. And when it is time to begin the next phase of their “great adventure,” as they come to see it for themselves, I pray they will remember the adventures of today, and the words we talk about…

“Be Jack. Be Andrew. The adventure is hard and the adventure is not about you.”