Adventure

None of us likes being bored. The usual remedy in our culture is entertainment. When I'm feeling bored my first inclination is to seek out some diverting input. Whether it is television, a movie or a video game, I want to be entertained. I've become so accustomed to living in the entertainment-boredom matrix that I have forgotten that there is an alternative to both, adventure. For the purposes of this article I am going to define adventure as non-mediated, exciting activity. Non-mediated means that video games, exciting as they are, are not adventure. Adventure is something that happens in real life.
When faced with this renewed alternative, I have to be honest, I don't really want it much of the time. In fact, at times I will go to great lengths to avoid the adventures presented to me in my life and flee to entertainment, even when that entertainment is so banal it is boring. The irony is not lost on me. So, I question myself. Why don't I want adventure? Why do I prefer even boring entertainment?
The first reason that comes to mind is risk. Because Adventure is something that happens in real life there is a significantly risk level involved. I could get hurt, physically, emotionally, relationally. I could hurt others. I can't get hurt in a video game or watching television. The trade off, of course is quality of life. Adventure adds significantly greater quality to my life than mere entertainment ever could.
Avoid it as I will, adventure is thrust upon me anyway. I've said many times that following Jesus is an adventure and I was more correct than I knew. Even if, like me, you tend to avoid the risks of adventure, God will not let you stay in that fearful place but will regularly put you in circumstances that challenge you to step out in faith. God wants me to trust him and if I am constantly avoiding risk I have no need of Him. It is only when I have something to lose that my profession of faith really means anything.