“Having a young child explain something exciting he has seen is the finest example of communication you will ever hear or see” (Bob Talbert).
THE WORLD IS FULL OF THINGS THAT INSPIRE WONDER, AND THE YOUNGER WE ARE, THE MORE NATURALLY WE ARE EXCITED BY THESE THINGS. Just yesterday, I met a really cool kid named Levi who enthusiastically showed me four kittens that were recently born on the land that belongs to his family. He was excited, I was excited, and even the kittens were excited! A young person’s excitement is so delightful to us because it reminds us of something about God’s creation: the good things around us were meant to excite us joyfully.
Unfortunately, our culture has turned excitement into a god, and it is now permissible to do, say, or think anything at all, as long as one finds it exciting. We have become addicted to it. We can’t bear to be without it. And that is a truly sad development because things like quietness, repose, and tranquility must also be a part of our experience. If not, we become deranged in our thinking and begin to make disastrous decisions due to a lack of perspective.
But if we understand its true nature and keep it in balance, excitement is one of the most gratifying experiences available to us. And it doesn’t always have to come from external sources. The most excited (and therefore exciting) people I know are those who are passionately stirred by thoughts they have consciously chosen to think. Norman Vincent Peale, who obviously knew a good deal about this subject, said it well: “You can think, talk, and act yourself into dullness or into monotony or into unhappiness. By the same process you can build up inspiration, excitement, and a surging depth of joy.”
And as a Christian, I would be less than honest if I didn’t say that life in Jesus Christ is the most exciting experience of all. Whatever else you may say about it, you can’t say that it is dull. To live by radical faith is to inhabit a realm that fairly tingles with awe and admiration.
“I simply believe that there is a mystery of the ordinary, that the commonplace is full of wonder, and that this life that we call Christian is different from what we think it is. It is infinitely more subtle, more powerful, more dangerous, more magnificent, more exciting, more humorous, more delicious, more adventurous, more involved, and more troublesome than most of us think” (Tim Hansel).
Gary Henry — WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
