FRONT-PORCH GOSPEL: Don’t lose that childlike wonder
Today’s front-porch visit is for all of you who feel a little stressed. Okay, I guess I can rephrase that: It’s for all of you.
You understand.
You have definitely come to the right place, though. Since about 1997 – for better or worse – I’ve kind of figured part of my job was to offer the readers something that is different from what they get from their other news sources. This source is just the good news. I kind of like that.
And here’s some of that good news: Baseball, as we speak, is in full swing.
People at any time of the day or night can grab a baseball and bat in their minds and go to the nearest sandlot and leave everything else behind in the dust. You gotta do that sometimes. With baseball, you see, comes something very special, one of the most special things you’ll ever see, hear, or feel.
It’s called childhood wonder.
Listen, don’t you ever lose that wonder that comes from deep down in your soul – or, if you already have, grab ahold to it again, if it’s the last thing you do. Don’t ever stop being the little boy who wanders over to the sandlot alone, with nothing but a bat and a ball and a backstop and a scowl on his face.
Be the young man who steps up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded, down by three. You’re in the World Series. With one perfectly-timed swing of the bat, send that tattered leather ball sailing over the fence and trot the bases like the ol’ Babe himself, and listen to the wild applause of 60,000 strong at the game.
Yes, my friends, right now, right here, you’ve entered childlike-wonder land. There’s no place like it in the whole world.
It’s the ability to dream big. It’s seeing a home run in a sunrise. It’s seeing a bases-clearing double in a red rose blooming outside the back door. It’s waking up every day as if it were Christmas morning.
Never, ever, lose it.
Every day for you is the bottom of the ninth, and you’re at bat.
You’re walking into the batter’s box, you’re digging your cleats into the batter’s box, you’re spitting into the dirt and grabbing some dust to rub on your hands, you’re stepping in the box and eyeing that pitcher standing high on the mound in front of you, there’s a little snarl on your lips, you’re tipping your hat to the pitcher to show mutual respect, and you’re preparing to take that little round white ball with the red laces that the pitcher has in his hand so far up into the stands that the little boy up in the cheap seats with his dad is about to get the souvenir of a lifetime.
“Stand aside, world, with whatever it is you have going on, I’m about to clobber this ball and create childhood wonder all over again.”
Oh, my, can you believe it? There it goes – that ball is high in the air, it’s deep, the outfielder is going back, back, back, he’s nearing the wall, this ball is gone!
And the pitcher – poor fella – he never even turned to look back.
Coach Steven Bowen, a long-time Red Oak teacher and coach, now enjoys his time as a full-time writer and preacher of the gospel. In addition to his evangelistic travels, he works and writes for the Church of Christ of Red Oak at Uhl Road and Ovilla. Their worship times are 10 a.m. Sundays and 7:30 pm. Wednesdays. Email coachbowen1984@gmail.com or call or text 972-824-5197.