A line from the movie Braveheart touches me: “All men die, few men ever really live.” Somehow our culture teaches us men to live safe lives. As a little boy I heard the words “be careful" "don’t touch" "watch out”. And they still ring in my ears, turning me away from any action that is risky, or dangerous. My culture encourages me to see each day safely through. But this is not living! Thoreau noted that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation”, and Robert Bly comments that the wildness has been driven out of us in search of a “sanitized, hairless, shallow man”. I will not become a boring old fart, sitting out his days in safety.I believe that we men find our lives nourished when we choose to take risks. It is when we choose to step out of the comfortable into the unknown that we find life. And so I choose to live adventurously. I will drive my motorcycle to new places; I will talk to strangers; and I will listen to the promptings of the unknown God. Because I do not know the way, I will get lost. Because I do not have a 5 year plan, I will wonder what tomorrow brings. When I blunder into unknown territory, I will make mistakes. And when I see the tree, I might one day even pick the fruit.
But I will be alive!
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A warrior of light is never predictable.
He might dance down the street on his way to work, gaze into the eyes of a complete stranger and speak of love at first sight, or defend an apparently absurd idea. Warriors of light allow themselves days like these.
He is not afraid to weep over ancient sorrows or feel joy at new discoveries. When he feels that the moment has arrived, he drops everything and goes off on some long-dreamed-of adventure. When he realises that he can do no more, he abandons the fight, but never blames himself for having committed a few unexpected acts of folly.
A warrior does not spend his days trying to play the role that others have chosen for them.
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