As I get older I have found that I don’t have as many moments of youthful exuberance as I used to.  You know what I am talking about; or has it been too long for you too.  Remember when you were young and you caught your first fish…<pause to dig through the memory banks>…you could hardly wait to tell mom and/or dad even though the fish looked like something that you might have in a fish tank?  Remember that time when you were camping and you were running around trying to catch fireflies; and how excited you got when you caught one?  How about that hit you got in a little league game?  Moments like these bring out a youthful exuberance (at least when we are young).  But as we get older, we don’t get as excited.  Something happens and I am not sure what.  Consider this quote from Mike Yaconelli’s book Dangerous Wonder: The Adventures of a Childlike Faith.  Before this he is describing when he used to pretend he was superman: "Then came a day when, without warning, without provocation, I woke up, never to wear a ‘cape’ again.  Wherever the knowledge came from, it came nonetheless, and from that moment on I knew flying was nothing more than a childhood fantasy.  I would never fly…and there is no superman.  In retrospect, my day of ‘enlightenment’ was a very sad day.  I know something inside of me died that day.  Whatever the ‘something’ was, it was the stuff of dreams and imagination…"

I miss those days.  I miss that "something".  But yesterday was a day I felt something I hadn’t felt for a long time…youthful exuberance (childlike wonder).  I was reminded of something I lost long ago and something I want to find again.  Here’s my story from yesterday about the child that resurfaced in me:  I finally played my first round of golf for the year.  This is awfully late considering I have been golfing for about 23 years and I love the game.  This year has been one of those years.  And I can’t quite put my finger on why I have not been out yet.  But looking back I realize I wasted a lot of opportunities.  Anyway, a parishioner wanted to golf with me so we made plans to golf last night.  It was a beautiful night; perfect temperature; very little wind; no bugs; great conversation; all in all it was one of those evenings on the course you just don’t want to end.  But it was a night I did not want to end for another reason.

I got to the first tee which is a 185 yard par 3 (you non-golfers out there please be patient with me.  I will make my point shortly).  I pulled out my 5 wood and teed my ball up.  Now I was not holding any hope of playing that well.  I usually shoot in the mid to upper 40s so a score in the 50s would have been fine for me, but I will tell you right now I did not shoot in the 50s.  I teed off on the first hole and stuck my ball 4 feet from the hole.  I stood on the tee box stunned.  It was a perfect swing and hit.  That should not happen on your first round of the year.  I walked up to the green and putted my ball in for a birdie.  Talk about a nice start.  The next two holes were par 5s.  I hit some great shots and took a par on those two holes.  On the fourth hole I finally showed some rust but still took a bogey (5) on the hole.  So after four holes I am even par.  On the next three holes I showed some more rust and bogeyed two of them while taking a par on one of them.  Now I stood on the 8th tee with a 2 over par score.  The excitement in me was building more and more.  This is a dangerous thing for a golfer because now I am starting to think what score I could shoot.  I am thinking I have a chance to tie my personal best of 2 over par.  I teed off on the 8th tee and hit my ball waaaaaaay left into the next fairway.  Now the true Eric has made his first appearance…choking under the pressure.  That is what I get for thinking about my potential final score.   There goes my personal best.  I then walked up to my ball and hit a perfect shot onto the green and two putted for a par.  Hole #9…all I need is a par to tie my personal best now.  I have to force myself to stop thinking about it.  I hit great 5 iron just missing green by inches.  I chipped close to the hole and tapped in for my par.  I SHOT A 2 OVER PAR 38 TYING MY PERSONAL BEST!  A score like that is not supposed to happen on your first round of the year.

I drove home from the golf course a little faster than I should of.  You see…I was so excited that I could hardly wait to get home to call my dad (the person in my life who taught me the game).  I called the house and my mom answered the phone as usual.  She was surprised when I asked for dad because I usually talk to mom and thought something was wrong.  I said nothing was wrong…I just need to talk to dad.  Dad got on the phone and I proceeded to tell him about every hole and nearly every shot.  I was excited.  I felt like a kid who got a homerun in little league.  Youthful Exuberance. 

After I calmed down I realized something:  I miss this childlike wonder.  I miss getting excited about the little things.  Why can’t I take childlike joy in more things?  I can…we can…we just need to stop taking ourselves so seriously.  Paul says in one of his letters that when he became a man he put childish things away; but we can’t put childlike wonder away.  When we lose this joy; when we lose this imagination we miss out on the joy that the Lord has created for us.  Jesus says we need to receive him like a child; innocent, unconditional trust and faith.  Look for that child within yourself and dust it off.  Take simple joy in the little things.  Laugh out loud…in public even.  Jump in a mud puddle and get someone wet.  Have fun.  Life is too short to be serious all the time.  Enjoy some youthful exuberance for a change.  I guarantee, you will like it.  Amen! -EDH-