Regaining Awe

When my youngest daughter was four she made a startling discovery.
We had been out late one night, and as we arrived home and climbed out of the car, she looked up, probably for the first time, at the night sky. The look on her face was priceless. Her eyes widened, her eyes sparkled and her mouth fell open, agape at what she had just seen. She was almost bursting within, as she exclaimed with utter awe "WOW, what are they".
I looked up quickly to find what she has seen. Perhaps she had seen a comet, or a shooting star or a strangely lit aircraft. Maybe one of the closer planets was at perihelion or a satellite had become visible at perigee. No, what she had noticed for the first time in her life was that there were stars in the night sky.
Perhaps she had often looked up at the daytime sky and noticed the sun, and some clouds, maybe a storm brewing in the distance, but she had no reason to think there was anything else up there. But now she had noticed them and she was utterly awestruck. It was one of those magical moments amongst many in a child's life when for the first time they discover something amazing.
It got me to thinking that it is a shame that we become so accustomed to awesome things to the point that they become ordinary objects, or worse something to be despised in our darkness of thinking. What would it be like if we were able to maintain this sense of appreciation our whole lives, of each and every discovery that we made as a child that stirred in us an overwhelming awe. Of course once you have discovered a thing for the first time you can never return to that same incredible moment of discovery (until perhaps you reach old age and begin to suffer Alzheimer's Syndrome), however I believe we can maintain a high level of appreciation for it.
I think it is similar to a child's reaction when they see something magical in the sense of the inexplicable.

Lewis wrote of the "magic" in the world in both his novels and other books, as did Tolkien in his fantasy novels.
There are some who are eager to criticize Lewis and Tolkien for their fantasy writing, specifically the inclusion of magic in their stories. They say that God abhors magic and all magic is evil, and that we should ground our children in reality.
I suspect they don't realize that even the real world is quite full of magic. In the stories a magician will make an incantation and magically cause something to happen. In the real world God speaks and things come into being. Is not God the greatest of Magicians, and ultimately the only true Magician? We can change the form of things but only God can bring them into being out of nothing. The Word of God is the most magical thing there is for it is flawless and can reside inside my heart, it can make even the simple to understand profound truths, it imparts the very wisdom of God with knowledge and understanding, it can shield a person from harm, give joy and delight, it is like fire, or a hammer that smashes rocks to pieces, it can combat temptation, give spiritual life, teach us and admonish us, it is living and active and can penetrate even to separating the soul and the spirit, it judges thought and the attitudes of the heart, and is enduring and everlasting.

I think part of our adult inability to appreciate things with awe is because we believe that it is a mature and proper thing for a man to grow up and put aside the silly childish fantasies that once captivated our imaginations. We think that science or advancements in thinking have taken us to a place where it is foolish to see the magic in things. The things that we can explain in some way whether it be in scientific or psychological jargon are what we accept. Anything outside these areas is labeled as childish fantasy. Sadly, when we think we can explain something in concrete terms (whether we understand it or not) we tend to lose our sense of amazement. I think this is because we think a thing is amazing because it is not understood rather than appreciating it for just being amazing, hence a loss of wonder in things that are explainable. This is what we do when we "grow up".
However Jesus called us to be like children. He said:
"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
And
"Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

I think one of the ways we need to be more like children is in an attitude of unfettered mind-blowing awe for the magic in this world, and to give the recognition and appreciation that is deserving of the one and only true Magician in this universe.