I just returned from a weekend at a Wild at Heart ‘Boot Camp’ in the mountains of Colorado. If you are not familiar with these events - they are run by Ransomed Heart, a ministry started by John Eldredge based on the ideas in his New York Times best selling book Wild at Heart. This is NOT a men’s retreat. As Eldredge himself says – let’s dispense with the “religious bullshit” and start living with a whole heart. It’s a thought provoking book, and a disruptive weekend event.
This weekend there were 430 men in attendance from all over the world. Saturday night I met Philipe, a minister from Avignon, France. He pastors a small evangelical community there. Philipe told me about his life in France and his desire to help men and women live whole heartedly. He described a lush mountain valley in the French Alps where he hoped to one day hold his own combination Boot Camp/Captivating (women’s event) - with the men on one side of the valley and the women on the other side of the valley. When he finished describing his vision, he looked wistfully toward the ground with a beatific smile and said “C’est une belle idée, un beau rêve.” It’s a good idea, a beautiful dream
Philipe glows with passion and hope, the beautiful pursuit of a meaning filled life. Philipe did not entertain the “pragmatic.” He didn’t seem to be worried about the logistics - how he might secure a venue, provide lodging, arrange the sessions, or even whether anyone would bother to show up for his Boot Camp in the Alps. He only sees men and women filled with hope and freedom.
I imagine that John Eldredge was once filled with a vision of men living whole heartedly. And then he took that first step and put one foot in front of the other as God invited him into an ever bigger and more compelling story. Like Philipe and like me, it started with a beautiful dream. This is my first step…