Albert Einstein once said that “He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand in rapt awe is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.”

That quote came to my mind one day this week, as the splendor of a sky-flooding sunset painted a perfect picture on the canvas of my windshield. As the awe-inspiring mix of every imaginable shade of orange, purple and pink created a brilliant spectacle on the horizon, I thought for a moment about just how many similarly astounding wonders our eyes behold throughout a lifetime.

Later, something that I read made me think about another kind of “wonder” that is prevalent in this world. On the back of an old church bulletin tucked away in my Bible, I found a list of things to make you wonder, an increasingly serious series of questions starting with silly matters and leading into wonders about the deepest issues of life. As that list made me realize just how many things there are to wonder about in this world, I thought I would try my hand at my own “wonder list.”

For starters, do you ever wonder why a man whose main objective in life is to throw a football will make more money this year than the people who are helping to build our children's foundations will make in an entire lifetime? In 2009, New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning took home an NFL high $15.3 million. The average West Virginia public school teacher took home not much more than $40,000.

Do you ever wonder, like I do sometimes, why we put our faith in the fallible likes of athletes and Hollywood celebrities, so-called stars who use their platforms for no better purpose than to brighten the lights of their own careers? It seems kind of silly when there are selfless souls all around us living lives defined by generosity, integrity and compassion. Maybe the world could take a collective step forward if we would model our lives after those folks, rather than characters like Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan who hang so proudly from our children's walls today.

And, do you ever wonder how it came to be that we can communicate better through the invisible airwaves that connect our cell phones than we can relate face-to-face with the loved ones in our own homes? As the Blackberries and iPhones become more firmly attached to the world's hands, I find myself longing for a simpler time, the days when it was an invisible woman named Sara who connected Sheriff Andy Taylor to his Mayberry neighbors.

And, have you wondered lately why, when millions of Americans are without healthcare, homes and food, our political leaders continue to waste foolish amounts of our tax money on luxuries like private jets, extravagant parties and other indulgences to stoke their colossal egos?

And, lastly, do you ever wonder why we as a country continue to wait on a new president to fulfill a promise of change reiterated in this week’s State of the Union address, when we could already be instilling the change that's so desperately needed in America, one new attitude at a time?

I don't know what will happen in the ensuing months or years of President Obama's presidency. Like all of my fellow Americans, I am hoping for the best. I'm praying for the day when the drowning economy will bounce back above water. I'm looking for the year when everybody will truly have an equal chance in this nation. And, I'm waiting for the era when the last thing on our children's minds is hatred, war and death and the first is true compassion for their neighbors.

But, I'm also worried about the fact that so many people seem to have been looking for some sort of magical transformation since our current president took office in 2009 on the claim that he would be the difference needed in Washington. It has been just over one year since that man stepped into the Oval Office, and maybe that change that he promised is still on the horizon, but it's more than the economy, healthcare system, tax structure and national security plan that need to see change in today's America. Other changes so direly need to be made, the kind of changes that don't start in the White House, but rather in the houses that line the city and country streets all across this nation. Because, as helpless as we may feel in the political doings of Capitol Hill, it is we who possess the power to make the changes that will truly make this country a better place.

So, as our nation reflects on the president’s State of the Union address this week, I hope that we will continue to stand together behind the vision of a brighter tomorrow. But, even more, I hope that we will realize that the fulfillment of that vision depends on each of us. Change, like charity, begins at home, and a changeover in the president's house will never mean a thing if we don't make those much-needed changes behind the doors of our own.