An article in More Intelligent Life magazine explores how dangerous, risk-taking activities are becoming a big business. The article notes, "Adrenaline holidays are moving from a niche market to a mainstream …. Danger is an international business." The article continues:

First there was bungee jumping, then free-running (vaulting from building to building) and BASE-jumping (parachuting off a fixed point). Now these have been joined by zorbing (rolling down slopes strapped inside a sphere) and snowkiting—the combination of kitesurfing and snowboarding. There's also coasteering—exploring shorelines without boats or ropes, swimming along the base of cliffs, clambering up rock faces, and diving into caves.

Parachutists and hang-gliders float through the skies, rock-climbers cling to sheer faces and skiers are dropped from helicopters. In the rainforests, the [daring] explore canopies on zip wires. In the oceans, we swim with sharks or free-dive without oxygen …. The Generation has given way to the Wheee Generation.

Why are we intentionally seeking out risky, fear-based activities? The article argues that it's a reaction to our sedentary, overly-safe society "where there are no dragons to slay or mastodons to hunt." A 35-year-old teacher says, "It's an escape from the mundane and the routine. If I don't [take risks] for a while, I feel prickly. I need to take those risks to feel fully human, fully alive. It's about joy and intensity." Another enthusiast says, "If we remove risk from our lives, we never find our strengths and weaknesses. We stagnate."

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Negatively, this illustration shows our never-ending quest for excitement and fulfillment which requires greater and greater thrills. (2) Positively, it shows our God-given need to live lives that matter, lives that require adventure, discipline, and bold steps of faith. Ultimately this need is only met by following Christ.