THERE’S A STORY of a first century Roman commander who had to lead his troops into uncharted territory. He sent a courier back to Rome with the message, “Send new orders! We have marched off the map!”
When we lived conventional lives in conventional housing, there were all sorts of maps for how to live and think, and all sorts of people eager to sell us the maps and to make sure we never strayed from them.
But here we are, either totally off the maps of “proper” living and thinking, or standing at the edge preparing to step off.
In many cases, the edge of the map is also the edge of familiarity, the edge of our knowledge, and the edge of our comfort zone. Beyond it is the uncharted territory of our soul. That’s where, as the ancient maps supposedly said, there be dragons. It’s where we learn who we really are — demons and all.
“Many recognize that simply continuing what we’ve done in the past will not get us to our goal. The future will not merely be an extension of the past.”
― Tim Elmore
Some people imagine they can live the new nomadic life without changing anything. They want it to be like the best parts of their old life, using the old maps. They just want life to be cheaper and in a variety of locations.
In nomad life there are no new orders from headquarters once you’re off the map. There is no headquarters. There are no commanders. You are self-directed. You are the boss. You are the decider. And, what scares some folks, you are the one you might need to blame.
Amen!