Day 40k: How to burn most Brightly … (05/24/2019)
One of the pastimes of pilgrims is the making of small (and sometimes not-so-small) cairns alongside The Way. These monuments were markers of one’s passing and testimonies to one’s pilgrimage, yes, and yet far more importantly they were reminders of a Truth far more potent — namely, the one that states that in order for us all to truly gain, we must be willing to set aside & indeed sacrifice the things we personally treasure; that in order for us all to truly live, we must be fully willing to die, not for the fulfillment of our own dreams or yearnings, but rather for a cause far greater than the same … 😉
“And now I offer you one final nugget of advice: Remember every day to boldly burn yourselves out. Be full-fledged enthusiasts for causes greater – full-time crusaders for justice and wholehearted fanatics for Love. Hold back nothing of yourselves and your lives for either hollow pleasure or mere adventure. It is enough to fight for the land. Indeed, the land cannot be fully enjoyed by this generation until it is fully protected for subsequent ones. So fight for it while you are still here. Get out there and protest and strike and beautify and cherish; ramble out yonder and explore the forests, the mountains, and the rivers with reverence; breathe deep of the still sweet and lucid air, and then announce the same to all who will listen. Enjoy yourselves in your time, yes, and yet keep your heart in your head and your head firmly attached to your body while doing so; your body that is still active and alive and able to care and champion. And if you do so, I can promise you this much; I can promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies – over all those desk-bound bankers and greed-bound developers with their eyes hypnotized by calculators and their hearts imprisoned in safe deposit boxes – I can promise you this: You will outlive them all, for the simple reason that you are truly alive and they, already dead.” ~ inspired by the life & writings of Edward Abbey
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