Man's Need for Adventure

I consider myself a very nostalgic person. History can help us define who we are as a person, a Church and a nation. All throughout history this world has offered men an opportunity for exploration and adventure. The sense of journeying into an unknown area or discovering an unknown civilization has been so engrained into men that we yearn for it from the time of toddlerhood. My toddlers are always finding ways to test their physical limits as well as discovering their surroundings. What is it about adventure that heaves at the soul of every man?

I recently read the novel ‘Toward the Gleam’ by T.M. Doran, an amazing book loosely based on J.R.R. Tolkien and his masterpiece ‘The Lord of The Rings’ and it made me wonder; what kind of adventures are men offered in this day and age? What new and exciting venues are we offered to fulfill that innate desire of adventure? At first, I was somewhat disheartened because for the ‘average Joe’ we do not have that great crusade or continent to conquer. We are not given a new territory to explore or treasure to be found. I was reminded of an excellent quote from ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’ that says, ‘All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us’. God put you and I in this exact moment in history for a reason.

Then I began pondering the history of the Catholic faith, what an adventure story! From heroes burned at the stake to villainous heretics whose aim was to destroy the majesty that is the Church. And it dawned on me, our Catholic faith is the adventure offered! When we decide to take our faith seriously and desire to know, love and serve the Almighty God we are called to an everlasting adventure story that will continue from death into eternity! When we decide to be men and women of action we are put in the front lines of a battle for souls! No other time in history has offered such a potent opportunity for white martyrdom. Just living out your faith in the face of materialistic hedonism is an adventure all by itself! Every single day we can find a new and interesting way of 'going against the grain' of this self-gratifying culture in which we live.

The courage and tenacity that it takes to stand up for truth when the world is sitting on their ‘Herodian washed’ hands is a higher calling than that of a physical crusade. Our civilization to be discovered is the Catholic minority that is and always has endeavored to be heard and spread the Gospel of the Son of the Living God. Our treasure to discover is the knowledge and understanding of a 2000 year old faith! We have in our possession the ability to feast on the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of the Christ sent to save us from eternal damnation! In a faith that desires suffering for the sake of souls we have the only righteous adventure left!