Happiest Place

I think I had forgotten how much fun it is to act like a kid!  

We just spent a few days with some of our family including little granddaughters in Disneyland and California Adventure Park!  For a few days, real life hardly existed.  We tried out pretty much all of the rides and attractions, enjoyed the parades, and we cheered and jeered as we watched live performances.  It was marvellous!

But – knowing me – I spent time reflecting somewhat on the big entertainment theme.  Shouldn’t the money have been spent feeding or housing the poor instead of building bigger, better and more technological rides?  Shouldn’t I have donated to a worthy cause - charity or church - the amount of hard earned cash I  spent on the tickets, not to mention the hotel and airfare? Isn’t the whole thing crass, degenerate, carnal – a monument to the gods of entertainment?

On the other hand, I can see it as a venue to bring families together to play together.   A tribute to the creativity and the abilities God placed within us. I don't believe God is dour - think of some of the imagery in the Psalms - the beauty and creativity in nature - "gladness" is mentioned quite often in scripture.  And I am very grateful to God for the resources He has blessed us with so that we could go.

It is a great place to shed the cares of life, just for a little while - whoop with glee roaring down the roller coaster – grin riding along with a child on Dumbo the flying elephant -- watch with pride as the 2 little girls dressed in their princess best eagerly await a lunch event with real live princesses – scream while getting splashed at the end of a ride – share a bag of popcorn or cotton candy – recall going to similar places with friends and family years before – enjoy retelling the Disney and old folk stories – talk about watching the more recent movies that inspired the theme attraction…

We had such fun!  Nobody had to eat their vegetables or go to work!  We trooped around with no particular plan in mind and our only concern was to fit in as much as we could. My highlight was watching the little girls’ beaming faces on the rides and as they met Mickey, Minnie and all the other characters!  We’ll talk about the experience and enjoy the photos for years to come!  

For a few days – for us – it was the happiest place on earth!!