“ … there is a fire
And motion of the soul which will not dwell
In its own narrow being, but aspire
Beyond the fitting medium of desire;
And, but once kindled, quenchless evermore,
Preys upon high adventure, nor can tire
Of aught but rest; a fever at the core,
Fatal to him who bears, to all who ever bore.”
~ Childe Harold, Lord Byron, Canto III, XLII

Also quoted on intro page to Book II of “Ben-Hur : A Tale of the Christ”

This is about living a journey, dangerously and passionately.

This is about living a journey that challenges what it means to live modern life.

risk
People may think risks are worth avoiding.
I believe people are risks worth taking, and that life is worth risking for the sake of people.

reckless
People may think being reckless means being dangerously foolish.
I believe that to live and breathe is to be recklessly alive.

passion
People may think passion is fleeting, temporary.
I believe that passion burns deep from within, and to have no passion is to die.

To risk living with reckless passion …
… it takes courage to risk a life of comfort and security and instead seek a life of danger and unknown risks.

… it takes a willingness to abandon control and to flow with what comes your way.

… it takes a certain comfort with uncertainty.

… it takes an eager curiosity for mystery instead of a paralyzing fear of the unknown.

… it takes broad and bold dreams and visions.

… it takes an awareness of people over plans.

… it takes embracing each other’s messiness.

… it takes a desire to change from being “driven” to being a dreamer.

Modern life is all about individual drive, where people are driven by technology and the constant tyranny of time, money, and bullet points:

• Drive makes life all about time and money, efficiency and productivity.
• Drive makes schedules, plans, and profits more important than messy risky unpredictable people.
• Those who are messy and who dream instead of drive… are ignored and trampled.
• Drive promises much, delivers nothing, ignores people, kills dreams, and dooms passion.

Modern life forces people to become driven machines: planned, productive, profitable, predictable, risk-free, mess-free.

I yearn to live a life marked by a messy and risky and reckless passion, a life touched and transformed by the “reckless raging fury they call the love of God.”

I have found that God loves with that kind of reckless passion - everything from people to rocks and trees and planets and the dust in between.

I have found that

God is a

messy

risky

dangerously unplanned

delightfully unprofitable

passionately unpredictable

dreamer.

I want to live a life of reckless adventure with such a reckless God and with reckless people who dream such reckless dreams.

Every day I see people around me living that kind of adventure, and I want to become like them - people engaged in activism, volunteerism, selfless giving, heroic efforts against injustice, a committed pursuit of love; messy people with messy problems who love each other anyway.

This is about pursuing that adventure with reckless passion.