Have you ever heard of those Russian kids who climb extremely high buildings and bridges, as well as equipment and videotape themselves at extreme heights? Google it. I've seen some of the videos, crazy stuff. Have a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loGM3VvpsOE
It's sort of an internet phenomenon. It's a bit dated now, but I came back to it recently out of pure curiousity These kids live in small towns in Russia, with nothing to do, I assume. So this is what they resort to... I can't help but wonder if lives like these are a result of a lack of understanding of purpose and meaning in life.
I'm sure its entertaining, a rush. I'm sure it's stimulating. They're looking for adventure, joy, and excitement in their lives. And they have none, so they turn to the very extreme of cheap thrills, risking life itself in defiance of all life's value.
I understand the appeal of that, though many reading may not. I understand putting it all on the line, and escaping death by a hair. As twisted as it sounds, it was appealing to throw in the face of life itself by risking it in utter foolishness. That is my spirit outside of Christ. My cause is nothingness without the Savior. My mission becomes death and darkness without Christ. So it is best to remain with Christ.
But I can relate to this desire, before and after conversion. I used to rock climb at night. I used to take a lot of risks. I still do take risks, but different risks. Risks are important in a meaningful life. But I used to take risks simply for the enjoyment of being risky. There is something liberating in denying the value of your own life, for some reason. Maybe it's the height of rebellion, though maybe, just maybe it boomerangs around to something more honest and profound: A declaration of the freedom of life in a world of rules, regulations, and subtle tyranny. Or maybe it's not so much a reaction against tyranny, but a reaction against the systematized way the modern world is, charts, graphs, roadways, businesses, all lined up just so, and requiring a conformity that is just so. And the human mind, made in the image of God, knowing it's made for liberty, and freedom, rejects this construct in it's various restricting forms.
The modern world starves us of legitimate spiritual expression. And it cuts us off from ourselves and from those around us, through screens and substances and prescriptions and to do lists. So perhaps the young break free by dangling from massive objects, skyscrapers over looking cities full of half asleep people who can't see God in the shadows.
I used to be the ultimate self destructive person. I took enjoyment in slowly destroying myself through drug use. I was lacking meaning in my life. I had been told in the higher education institutions that life had no meaning, that all truth was relative, that my truth was up to me, and no one has the truth because there is no truth. That led to despair, and meaninglessness. But the self destruction I lived out was a natural consequence of the post-modernist garbage I was fed.
I'm here to tell you now: Post-modernism is a lie and moral relativism is a lie.
It's garbage, total nonsense puked out by college professors who can't stand the idea of moral accountability. But there is meaning in life. And there is a real God out there who made this universe, and designed this structure of nature, space, oxygen, animals, plants and us. It's so painfully obvious now that I think about it. All this complexity, all this harmony, even with all the problems and evils of our world tell me that there is a God, but something went wrong in this universe. And what went wrong is you and me. We've fled from God and tried to remake the world in our own confused image. And it's led to meaninglessness and moral chaos. It's led to pain and confusion in our hearts and souls. We ache after something greater, our minds reach out for something beyond us, and when we realize one simple fact it all begins to make sense: We're the ones who are lost, confused, sad children who ran away from home and are now lost in the wilderness. And we can't see right. We don't understand. We're afraid and hostile like a caveman on the streets of modern day LA.
So if we can come to realize the reality of God, this is the key that opens the ancient doorway, on a new path, away from the ledge, away from the self destructive thrill seeking, away from chaos, and to a new road, a journey through a beautiful labyrinth that leads to a nazarene peasant, two thousands years ago, named Jesus Christ. Yes, it's true.
Related Posts:
- Twilight in the Dark City
- What is the matrix?
- Living in the Suburban Sprawl (Mountains beyond Mountains)
- Ancient Doorways in the Brickhouse: Fields of Green in your Dreams
- Depression & Meaninglessness: Where is God in the depths of sorrow?
- The Awe of Dreams & the Surreal
- Big Picture: The Solution to all the Problems of Earth
- What is the meaning of Life?
- You Oh Lord are my Strength: The Manifold Provision of God
- Daybreak: Examining the Problem of Pain
