Run For Your Life!

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. We are all born “wide-eyed,” so to speak. We delight in the enthusiastic wonder of an infant who hears the jingle of keys, or sees for the first time some colorful toy. Often we are inspired by persons of advanced years who still maintain a youthful air — a spirit of enthusiastic wonder for the blessings of life.

At age 90, Pablo Casals, the great cellist, would begin his day by playing Bach. As the music flowed through his fingers, his stooped shoulders would straighten and joy would appear in his eyes. Music, for Casals, was a wondrous experience that made life a never-ending adventure. “Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”1

A “Passion Play” was about to be performed before an audience of thousands. Sitting in the front row with her aunt was a fun-loving, free-spirited, enthusiastic three-year-old. It was her first “Passion Play.” Said the little girl’s…