The Obstacle Of The Banal

I liked what Mike Y had to say here (pgs 29-30) about living life instead of making a living. However as I continue growing the family this seems to move farther out of reach. Although I do have to say that our recent (last 4 years) changes to our financial position counter-balanced this with the exception of buying the new house.

Of course this also plays into my comments here.

Dangerous Living

And another question: Mike Yaconelli writes, "I long for a life that explodes with meaning and is filled with adventure, wonder, risk, and danger."

Do you think life should be lived dangerously? What would a dangerous life look like for you?

If you could do something today that would epitomize that sense of wild abandon, what would it be? Would you quit your job? Plan a mission trip with friends? Get involved in inner city ministry? Take a weekend getaway with someone special? What would it be for you?

Childlike Wonder

By now you should all be making your way through Mike Yaconelli's book Dangerous Wonder (we'll be talking about it at our next mentoring meetings). In the early chapters Mike talks a lot about having a childlike faith, a sense of wonder, adventure, playful abandon, irresponsible passion, etc. He also talks about that moment when each of us lose that childlike wonder. It happens at different times and in different ways for each of us.

Personally, I stopped being a child when my parents moved from my childhood home of Toledo, Ohio to rural Michigan when I was in the 5th grade. It didn't happen all at once, but gradually I started to lose the sense of intense imagination that I had possessed all through childhood. As a kid I was constantly creating imaginary worlds in my head: building castles and kingdoms, fighting World War III in my backyard, going on long journeys of exploration in my neighborhood.

Shortly after we moved I got hit with the onset of puberty, and a year later I skipped a grade, which effectively meant that all my classmates were suddenly already a whole year further into adolescence. Both of those factors combined to squelch my ability to create these worlds in the same way.

I remember there was one day in 7th Grade (I was still only 12) when a friend and I went out to the woods to play army and right away I knew something was different. It just wasn't the same anymore. The "reality" of it was gone. It just seemed silly and childish. I don't know why it happened right then, but I never went out to play army anymore after that.

When did it happen to you? When did you lose your childlike attributes? Are there any that you think it was good to lose? Which would you try to get back if you could?