By Brad Locke
July 29, 2005

(AgapePress) - I was standing on the field at Detroit's Comerica Park when I felt it. With Tommy Lasorda, Cal Ripken and Albert Pujols – among dozens of others – walking past during the recent Major League All-Star festivities, my inner child was leaping up and down. I had felt that way few times in recent years.

I used to feel it every time I opened a pack of baseball cards, or sat in the stands at a high school football game. There was that almost insufferable anticipation of the next moment, which could produce a Roger Clemens rookie card or a game-breaking touchdown pass. And then there was the exhilaration -- or stinging disappointment -- when that moment arrived. And underlying it all was a sense of wonder.

That wonder has been dulled by the world's cynicism and, well, ESPN. Overexposure to athletic beauty can lead to desensitization. We lose appreciation for what used to capture our imaginations; and in fact, I believe our imaginations suffer for it. The unique becomes trite, and instead of dropping our jaws, we smirk.

This comes from our insatiable, increasing need for the spectacular. We worship the never-satisfying thrills of life. Heck, it's like a drug addiction. The more we have, the more we want. The mundane is considered evil. Thus, extreme sports (which I enjoy watching, mind you).

Is this just part of growing up, that knowledge and maturity don't allow us to be easily awed? Or do we allow others' indifference to stymie our enthusiasm? I can't count the number of times I've subdued my glee for fear of embarrassment. Of course, most of the other people were probably doing the same thing. How nice it is when people can share in wonder together.

Our sense of wonder is a gift from God that should be tenderly nurtured and closely guarded. Retaining the ability to be amazed is what helps us hold on to truth. Cynicism breeds skepticism, which breeds moral impotence. Truth is to be treasured, and anything that is a treasure is defined so by the wonder surrounding it.

There are many things on Earth worth treasuring -- for a time, and with proper perspective. My time at the All-Star festivities uncovered that neglected sense of wonder, but it also brought home how easy it is to let worldly wonders overwhelm you and unsettle your priorities. Being close to famous people helped me realize how one can become enraptured with them and their lifestyles, which are themselves a continuous trip through a worldly Wonderland.

Such a place is temporal, which is why we should focus on reaching the place where the wonder never ceases, where we will thirst no longer for bigger thrills. It's a place where we'll be in the presence of Someone far more famous, and far greater, than Tommy Lasorda.