The adventure living!

The above three sites are the tallest tree tops in our garden. What is interesting is that these three places are often occupied during the flight movements of birds in our garden in the morning and evening. While other birds do not displace the occupants in these spots, a crow can chase away a bird to claim the space for itself. 

Most birds have a habit of looking for tall places to have a bird's eye view of the space ahead and plan for its flight movements. It is therefore inherent to its nature for flight planning. So it is not a fancy or fantasy. 

The motor racing is a sports as well as a fancy. Ice skating is a skilled activity associated with the fantasy of speed and movements. The sky high rotating wheels in entertainment parks is a thriller. The surfing sports is an adventure activity. The rock climbing in mountains is one other risky sports. 

The trapeze artists in a circus performs acrobatics in the air which is a thriller to watch. Almost all the time there is a protective strong netting beneath them for safety. 

 

All these and more are part of the adventure instincts we carry with us as human beings. Now there is increasing popularity for such sporting. 

The adventure instinct arises from the of challenge of a thrill.  

I paused to think about this further. 

I came across a phrase, 'adventure living' while reading some biographies. Henri Nouwen, a professor of Harvard and Yale universities left his academic position and went to live with the day break community of L'Arche in Toronto, where people with different neuro-developmental needs lived together, where assistants lived with them to support them. 

This became an adventure living as Nouwen with all the academic credentials and achievements had to unlearn and relearn to live among people who were intellectually challenged. 

Let me quote: 'At L'Arche, people with and without intellectual disabilities live, work, and learn together creating communities of friendship and belonging. We foster mutual relationships, celebrate the unique value of every person, and strive for a world where everyone can belong and contribute'. 

For the highly accomplished professor, retreat leader, writer and popular speaker, Rev Fr Dr Henry Nouwen, this experience of living in day break community with people with cognitive limitations was truly an  'adventure living'. 

In his book, The road to Daybreak, Nouwen narrated  the details of a year spent in Trolly, France in such a community before he moved to the Daybreak community in Toronto. He found L'Arche to be place of inner renewal, self discovery, and deeper understanding of God and the human family. Nouwen felt that he had finally 'come home' when he came to live in L'Arche as one of the assistants. 

He initially struggled being a care giver but gradually found it to be a gift and privilege. Nouwen served as pastor at the Daybreak community in the last decade of his life. It was a transformative experience for Nouwen, which deepened his spirituality and brought a new vocation in his life with a new appreciation of human family with all its diversities and differences. 

This adventure of living brought enormous renewal experiences to those who lived in the Daybreak community with intellectual compromises. There was a new quality of life and relationships when Nouwen became the pastor of the community. 

While all forms of adventure I referred above will be part of human living, the type of adventure living which Henry Nouwen pursued  changed him and brought renewal and meaning in the lives of others. This is worthy of attention. 

The purpose which Nouwen pursued in adventure living, was for giving an uplifting experience to others. 

What challenges me from Nouwen's adventure living is his readiness to let go of his comfort zone for the sake of bringing a good news of encouragement in the lives of others, who were denied of the comfort of usual communication and relationships. 

There is a place to seek for adventure to develop a 'warrior' spirit; there is a space less occupied, for adventure living to bring fullness to others!

M.C.Mathew 9text and photo)