Reality... and the man behind the screen... - June 2011

The whole month of June involved a lot of walking.  Little feet, big feet, all kinds of shoes and our feet took us everywhere!  This whole ordeal started with one simple question,

"Did you know I had a dream to go to Disney?"

And so the adventure began.  "Grandma's dream" became reality.  Two kids, three adults and ten feet traveled the many miles of Disney World for seven days.  In and out of sunshine and rain, what would we encounter? 

A chance encounter with a man on the monorail, endless talks with employees and the many people we met at the park.  Our feet took us many places.  Each person we encountered had a story, told or untold.  These people we encountered were real.  They had real needs, real hopes and real dreams.

While on one of our long walks form here to there in the Magic Kingdom, I realized we really were in a fantasy land. 

We were walking along one of the bayous where the riverboats and other boats run. Grandma walked past a small building that was made to look like a small fishing hut.  On top of it were perched a couple of birds.  I just thought they were fake. 

In contrast to the people that we met- almost everything else in the park is made up...

the volcano at the pool... fake...

Mt. Kilimanjaro... fake...

Grand Canyon... fake...

Many of the animals are also not real, such as crocodiles, and elephants that are encountered through out the park.  On this occasion, as our feet carried us along with waterway beside the steamboats-

  Grandma made an exclamation that “I think that bird is really real” and sure enough, if you were to look very closely the bird would look around every so often .  It was indeed, not a mechanical bird but a real one.

How many times in our lives do we pass by something that is really real and take it for granted?  But even more than that, how much more real are the spiritual things (that we can not see), that we take for granted (Ephesians 6:12)?  The powers and rulers and principalities…  the spiritual battle we are in every day?  How often do we neglect our spiritual armor how often do we neglect our prayer life (Ephesians 6:10-18)?

Also, how Awesome is God that he has created all of this world so intricately?  AMAZING!  And then man, in our greatness, has created the Magic Kingdom, where is everything is imaginary.  We saw a show called Fantasmic, and it was amazing.  There were projections on misty water, it was so very real.  

But when it all came down to it, that one REAL bird was more amazing and intricate than anything a human could have made.  The REAL bird revealed “the man behind the screen”

(humanity… like in the wizard in The Wizard of OZ) and put the real creator on the throne.

⁴⁸ “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

 ⁴⁹ “‘Heaven is my throne,
   and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
            says the Lord.
   Or where will my resting place be?
⁵⁰ Has not my hand made all these things?’

^{Acts 7:49-50}

So we stood, and we walked.  We shared, we grew and we talked. 

And the journey goes on.