50 Foot Dalmatians and Memorizing Scripture

A disclaimer.  I am at Disney world and I know that it is the worst kind of fraud; it is a fake that seeks to deceive.  It purposes heaven on earth, man is master of his own destiny, man can, by his own devises, create nirvana here on earth.  Man cannot!  I sat in the maddening throng and can feel the physical pain of the burden of souls searching desperately for meaning in a fantasy made of cast fiberglass and bright paint.  So there is my disclaimer.  I am not deceived but only finding meaning in where I am.

It is like heaven here.  I sat on a bench and watched the throngs stroll by, every race and tongue, every size and shape, the pretty ones and the not so pretty, tall, short, thin, fat, old, brand new and I think to myself that this is how heaven will be, all of us together, all of us getting along. 

At night they have movie highlights that they show on the side of Magic Kingdom Castle.  I was watching it last night and thought how much this will be like heaven.  At night God will show movies on the side of His Castle, movies like “How I Thought Up Trees.”  They will all be blockbusters and instead of ending in fireworks they will end with a tour of a new galaxy.

Disney is like heaven in that they treat everyone as a princess and a prince waits.  It is the perfect story to sell children.  Children are special here and in every way from hotel shampoo with Mickey ear tops to 50 foot tall Dalmatians outside your room Disney is determined to make children feel special.  The church could learn a lot from Disney.  We give children a list of rules to follow, don’ts and cants that they must obey, memorization of lengthy passages they don’t understand and attendance to long lectures.  Is it any wonder that by the time there 18 they just check out to find their own heaven?  The church should begin children on this truth.  Someday you are going to belong to the greatest King and all that He has will be yours, every leaf, lake, star and galaxy will be yours and you will be the King’s Prince.  That is the truth so why not celebrate it.  There is time enough for learning scripture, sacrifice and suffering but to begin with we may want to let them play with 100 Dalmatians instead of memorizing 100 verses because even all the galaxies or 100 Dalmatians can’t compare to what He has in store for us at His Magic Kingdom.

Everyone’s purpose at Disney World is to be nice.  When we walk up to our lodge everyone says, “Welcome Home” and when you get coffee they say “Good morning.”  When you ask a question they smile and respond and when you need something they say “Yes.”  From the time I arrived I have been made to feel special.  What is the most special?  Everyone seems to mean it.  To believe that someone thinks you’re special is truly Fantasyland.  You can learn a lot from a mouse.  I am learning, not how to be a better Mouseketeer but, how to be a better Christian.   

The fantasy outside my window

Disney World

Disney World is the greatest testimony to the truth of God.  It is mans greatest attempt at creating heaven on earth and it is all based on a fantasy, that there is a mouse named Mickey.  No human could conceive of Fantasy Land unless their ancestors had actually lived in Eden.

Our Debt To The Trees?

There is fine being in meditation and the will to think quietly and with imagination of God.  Most of our praises are brewed as we sat alone and consider the life we live and the world we are apart of.  Breathing in and out is common enough but our body’s ability to feed and thrive on oxygen is another matter all together.  The fact that we have abundant oxygen is not cause for tedium but a very means by which we wonder who created this debt of love we owe the trees.

WAKE UP!!!

When I wake up I am conscious of God, I feel a great debt, I’m breathing, I am consciously aware of Him and me and I want to renew our relationship.  I wonder when an atheist wakes up if they are conscious of not knowing God.  Do they think, “I know the cosmos, and I am grateful for its ever increasing complexity that allows me.”  I can remember, when I was far from God, waking up every morning thinking how to become, I was always trying to be.  One thing I know well, it was very difficult trying to construct me everyday, I tried all manner of things in the constructing and most were destructing me, were hell bent on deconstructing my heart, mind, soul and body.  One of the great benefits of a relationship with God is His making ability.  He doesn’t construct as much as He creates.  It is a far better thing to be created than constructed, especially when it is possible every moment of every day. 

I am happy Someone created the arch so we could enjoy it

My Prize

Last week I attended an art conference in Milwaukee WI.  There were many gallery shows and at one they were holding a silent auction of fine art for charity.  One of the items was a tea bowl made by Paul Soldner.  Not just any tea bowl but one he had made during the last days of his life.  I bid on it but never expected to win.  Late in the afternoon on Friday I received a call congratulating me on the winning bid.  I was so very pleased.  It would be the finest piece in Union’s collection.  I brought it home and had carefully unwrapped it and showed my wife.  The next morning I was eating my cereal in the quiet of our kitchen.  The tea bowl was sitting across the kitchen.  I retrieved it and set it in front of me to admire it.  It was so beautiful, wood fired, burned to deep red chocolate brown with finger marks forever burned in place.  I had set it down next to a small clay cup that my wife had randomly filled with buttercups from our yard.  My eyes kept leaving my prize and lingering on the delicate flower, the purity of the yellow and the tiny stamens.  Finally I gave up and just gratefully lingered over the buttercups.

When Jesus spoke of “the lilies of the field” I imagine He might of briefly thought of me this morning.

It didn’t diminish my prize, Union still owns a Paul Soldner.  It just had the misfortune to be sat next to the gifts of The Devine.