Social media is strewn with the catchphrase, #Adventure, which is meant to embody an outdoorsy and daring spirit. Yet, the opposite message is being sent. What started as an innocent expression of “granola culture” has slowly morphed into a trivializing statement that not only exploits nature, but also warps self-perception for wander-lusting youngsters.
Because of countless cables under the sea, twenty-first century people have access to an entire technological world. Through Instagram and the pursuit of being trendy, part of our identity has become dependent on the reactions of others. We can manipulate and create a self-image that we are comfortable sharing with the world through filters and editing. We are even willing to abuse the natural world through selfish thinking to achieve this goal. Introspection slowly morphs into loneliness when we become dependent on the approval of outside observers.
Have we invited a thief into our lives? A thief who has stolen away intimacy with God and His creation? An intimate experience with God or nature should not feed the flame of social anxiety, but rather should encourage the pursuit of truth and beauty. Thanks to #Adventure, experiences in nature have the tendency to become a competition rather than an affirmation of the inherent worth that people and nature have. Nature exists whether I pause to photograph it or not.
The word “adventure” does not need to exclusively pertain to mountain top experiences. The non-technical root of the word “adventure” is “advent”. Adventures in life are not merely the moments of aesthetically pleasing hat-wearers holding pine cones and ferns in the woods with their eyes closed. Adventure can also exist in the moments of suspension over the unknown.
During Praxis week, Pastor Meredith Griffin spoke about the tension of waiting. He addressed how much of life is a transition phase. Change is not possible without waiting, learning, and growing. If Christians created a theology after the way many people use the hashtag #Adventure, it would be one void of hope and void of redemption because much of the spiritual Journey is preparing for the long awaited return of Jesus. Jesus’s incarnation that we celebrate at Christmas time is the commencement of the advent we all experience as Christians.
Speaking of commencement, for us seniors, this period of waiting for our futures to line up is not #Adventurous because we are all scaling mountains like billy goats as some of us wish we were doing. It is #Adventurous because we can wait expectantly knowing that God is present and actively involved in our waiting.
With this promise in mind, for Christians, advent is not hopeless because we know the end of the story. We wait with the assurance of expected justice that will be restored to the earth. Isaiah brings us the news from Zion as he proclaims God’s promises, “My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations.”
As we pursue a state of active stillness, contentment in Christ will override our culture’s idea of being at peace. And this contentment, not #Adventure, is the restoration of a deep, intimate relationship with our creator and His creation during mountain top experiences and valley wanderings.