Do You Believe in Magic?

"Men do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing." ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

I have often sat wondering about when I made the change between the way a child thinks and the way an adult does. At some point in time, my way of thinking matured.

Perhaps it's when I first discovered that Santa Claus wasn't real, that the present that were found each Christmas morning were placed their lovingly by my parents. I had often wondered when I noticed the subtle changes, the wrapping paper was the same as what we were using that year, the signatures and writing on the gift tags were in my mom's unique writing style and not to mention the year while playing hide and seek in my mom's room I stumbled into the far back end of her closet and found bags of what would soon be me and my brothers Christmas presents that year.

Yet I said nothing except to my brother of the treasured discovery in the depths of my mother's closet that year. We took everything out and looked it over with smiles but then something changed.

Even though we used to sleep with anticipation of what would await us that morning, when it came I was no longer surprised. Those same toys we discovered were the ones wrapped in Christmas paper with our names and signed by Santa. Magic gone.

I used to believe in all kinds of child-like magic. I believe that Mary Poppins really could stuff all that stuff in her carpet bag and when she opened her umbrella she could fly away. That is until I tried to fly with my own umbrella and jumping off the roof. I plummeted to the grass below off a single story home and thankfully wasn't hurt.

I believed in fairies in the garden and in the tooth fairy and Easter bunny. I believed in pots of gold if only you could find the end of the rainbow before it faded away.

I believed in magic, real magic that there wasn't some trick behind it all. And once the secrets are discovered perhaps that is when we grow into adults. When we take on responsibilities and stresses that come with growing older.

We forget to do things like playing in the puddles when it rains, getting soaked to the skin only to come inside to a warm cup of hot chocolate and some chicken noodle soup. We forget to play in the waves at the beach and try to jump each wave that laps at the sandy shore. We forget to have snow ball fights and rush out to make the first snowman when it snows enough to make such things possible.

Like the quote above I think we tend to grow older when we forget to play. Who said that adults can do this stuff any longer. Who said we can't call in sick just to enjoy a summer day and go fishing, or on a dark night in a star-filled sky, wish upon a falling star and believing with all your heart it will come true.

I think we all need to remember that simple child like faith in believing in things unseen. God calls us to be like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven and perhaps this is a great way to start. So what are you going to do today?