I cannot seem to perk up since being home from the Disney trip. Maybe it's because the planning, the build up, and the excitement is now over. I'm wondering what's next, where do I apply my energy?
There is one thing I keep thinking about that maybe explains my emotional slump. The last day we were at Disney World, we raced to Epcot as it opened to be among the first to ride "Soarin". It's a very popular ride and we had been unable to ride it earlier in the week due to the long wait and lack of Fast Passes. It's popular for good reason. It simulates flying over the earth, over every kind of terrain. There's an eagle's eye view for each scene you "fly" over. There's even slight temperature and scent changes (for example, while flying over the orange groves, you can actually smell the oranges). It is truly spectacular.
Most people I'm sure just ride this ride, enjoying it for what it is. A ride, an escape, temporarily being transported someplace other than the normal and mundane. It evokes feelings of freedom, exhilaration, and breathlessness. But then it's over. Most people get off and for a few minutes talk about how cool it was. Then they move on to the next thrill.
But for me, this ride took me someplace else. All I could think about was that must be what my Mom is doing right now. She is soaring and the view must be amazing.
As much as I was enjoying the ride for what it was, it was still just a ride displaying man's imagination. This was man's creation. And I wondered, what will God's imagination revealed be like in the new heaven and new earth? We're clearly told in 1 Corinthians 2:9, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him."
Man's creation here-"Soarin", and all of Disney, as awesome as it is, it's all still created with fallen world materials. How much more will our hearts leap when we experience what God has for us?
Just before Epcot opened that day, we were waiting. As we stood, the crowd built, the music played. Everyone watched as the Disney staff ("cast members") stood just on the other side of the rope. There were announcements over the music letting us know that in just a few minutes the park would open...Then more music, more waiting. Then finally, the real opening, the welcome, the musical crescendo, the staff moving the rope away and we're off...!
Dad said, "Disney knows how to build the anticipation and then exceed the expectation". So true. For a few months we looked forward to this trip, we planned, we saved, we packed, we traveled...and we did experience the amazing trip we hoped for...actually, more than we hoped.
There's more anticipation building, there's something more coming. No, we are not heading back to Disney soon. But, if you listen for the music and the announcements, you too will know. God is preparing something far beyond anticipation or imagination for those who love Him. When it finally comes, let's go and enjoy...what He is preparing for us will exceed all our expectations!
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Oh Caroline, your words just gave me chills! I just read this "Life, post-Disney", and the fall post. So glad I read them both right NOW, because I'm sitting by a window in the NC house, looking out on the briliant fall colors across the mountains against the blue sky. I too love and marvel at the beauty of fall. I am imacted by how courageous and bold this death can be. Yet it is indeed death... Though the experience can be sacred, it is a loss, and the grief which follows can numb our souls like the bitter winter's freeze. I love fall, but in the last few yrs, it brings me thanksgiving mingled with sadness as I recall the lives and deaths of the dear ones I journey with in hospice. I've thought of your mom often lately... I've thought of that book we read with Gabby, "The Fall of Freddie the Leaf"... I've thought of your mom's sassy, classy ways... her beautiful smile, her courageous love, and the brilliant colors of her soul's final fall season as she left to soar with God forevermore. I hurt with you, my friend. I also rejoice in thanksgiving that one day, we will soar.
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