From the Associated Press news wire today comes a story that strikes a note in my restless heart. Perhaps it is envy that draws me to this story, for I have oft considered doing something so adventurous. Read below...
Adventurer leaves NY career to walk across US
AVALON, Wis. – In these uncertain times, most of us cling to the things that make us feel secure. Those who have jobs give thanks. We hug our children a little tighter. We wait — and hope — for better times.
So when someone like Matt Green comes along, we shake our heads a little and wonder. Who is this young man, bearded and weather-worn, pushing a cart down a country road, mile after mile? And why would he abandon a solid career as a civil engineer — a roadway designer, ironically — to walk all the way across America?
"Good question," he concedes to those who frequently ask about his motives.
Unlike others who've made cross-country treks, Green is not looking to break a record of any kind. Nor does he want to draw attention to a particular cause. He has no agenda, other than the handwritten list of directions he regularly compiles from Google Maps, in the event his cell phone can't access them from remote areas.
No, for Green, there's just something about the act of walking that makes him really happy, much more content than he ever would have been in his office cubicle in Manhattan, where he used to daydream about doing something epic like this.
On the road, there's a simple purpose to each day, he says. There is camaraderie with the people he meets along the way. There is excitement in discovering what's around the next bend.
"Playing it safe isn't really that safe," he has concluded. "If you do that, you miss out on a lot of the great things life has to offer."
For him, making this journey is freedom.
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Read that last line again: "For him, making this journey is freedom." This is the spirit of adventure, I believe: freedom. Why do people leave the comforts of home, financial security, and other "givens"? For the sake of freedom — actual and imagined. Of course, I see spiritual overtones in all this, though I have no idea whether or not Matt Green is a man of faith.
Truth is, our hearts and our souls were not made to find security and freedom in this world. We were not intended to settle here forever. To get comfortable and satisfied. No, we were intended to long for someplace higher, someplace greater, someplace better than the world we see around us. Look at Abraham. He had everything he needed in Ur. He was wealthy. He had family. He had a home. But he left it behind because God told him there was something better than the status quo waiting for him in Caanan. And so he left, "for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God (Heb 11:10)." A heavenly city. A better place to dwell. He and his wife, Sarah, saw the promises of God for a better life and they lived by faith, having confessed that "they were strangers and exiles on the earth." And that, my friends, is the key to having a biblical worldview. You must confess that this world is not your final home and live your life accordingly. Once you do that, you will not only find adventure but also freedom from worry, fear and anxiety.
"Playing it safe isn't really that safe," Matt Green concluded. "If you do that, you miss out on a lot of the great things life has to offer."
In less than 10 days, I'm headed off on an adventure of my own. Though I'm not quitting my job like Matt did (of course, he was an engineer and that's two pay grades or more above me), I am heading off across the southwest to find adventure and freedom. I'm not much on walking but I plan to drive across Texas, New Mexico and Colorado by myself in hopes that many wonderful adventures await me along the journey. People to meet, places to see, freedom to be felt. What makes me happy is having the freedom to experience life as it comes to me. The journey is where I find peace. The status quo drives me crazy.
So I can't wait for my next crazy adventure.
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