When I was a little boy, we got bored a lot. Well, in my house, it was illegal to get bored. My mom was agnostic to boredom and refused to believe it was possible to exist if one had an imagination.
It would never fail in the summer time. My little brother, Zak, and I would be in the house, bored out of our minds. Mom would be watching “All My Children,” and we would lie on the shag carpet, stare at the ceiling fan and lament on this horrid state of mental and physical inertia.
Our contentious whining would drift to Mom’s radar-like hearing. She had had enough.
Go outside! See you at dinner!
Slam! She would lock us out, and we were on our own for the rest of the summer day. These were the days before Nintendo Wii, Facebook and texting. We were stranded in the land of summer with nothing to do and forced to stay hydrated by the garden hose.
Being the boys we were, before we knew it, we were off on some adventure involving bikes, ramps, building forts or playing in the creek. Our favorite phrase that rebuked boredom was, “What if?” This phrase was the key that unlocked imagination fueled by reckless wonder.
Grand/hyper ideas would invade our minds like an excited wet dog skidding through the house after a bath. Intricate forts were constructed, bicycle ramps were built so high that to jump it gave us a direct line of passage into manhood. Yes, we faced danger and let adrenaline pump through our hearts. The hours raced by, and dusk became a time of sorrow. We raged at the dying of the light! Covered in blood, dirt and mud, we chased fireflies and did our best to ignore Dad’s call for us to come inside.
As adults, we traded in imagination and settled for our lives. We used to dream of what we would become. Instead, we got jobs, settled down and put hope away.
Nostalgia takes the place of future hope. We believe our best days are behind us. We find escape through Facebook, sports and TV. We work our jobs. We forget to hope. “What if” now is the key that unlocks thoughts of uncertainty, fear and anxiety.
Part of walking by faith is to dream again. Go reclaim that childlike faith and let it propel us back into a world that was full of wonder and possibilities. God is inviting us to believe and trust in Him again. He is inviting us to run, play and engage imagination once again. It is never too late to trust. He is calling us to grow young.
Plant City resident Josh Loudermilk is a part of Humor to Outreach, a Christian-based comedy troupe. You can reach Josh at louderthoughts@yahoo.com.