The birthday celebration continued last night with the first official "Christmas" activity of the season. We went to the MGM studios and saw the annual Christmas display--yes, complete with Nativity for the Disney nay-sayers among you--and even Christmas Carols that mention God and all sorts of stuff. (You'd be surprised at how much God shows up in Disney Parks around Christmas time--oh yes, it's still largely secular, but Disney is business savvy enough to know not to offend it largely Disney-neutral pro-religion clientele.)
Afterwards, we raced to the other side of the park to see one of the nighttime shows which we have not seen ever before. This was one of the marvels of technology. In the course of this show I'd seen things I had never seen before--for example, movies projected on the back side of a fan-like spray of water. I wasn't sure if I was seeing them on the reverse side of a CO2 cloud or water, but then determined that for the consistency of image and appearance, it had to be on a fine fan-like mist.
The show was amazing and fun and capped off a fine evening of enjoyment. Boy thought it splendid and scary, and Linda, a bit winded from our cross-park sprint, said that it was worth it.
You know, there are so many things to thank God for. Yes, even these moments of levity, these light entertainments. No, they aren't the end-all be-all of life, but they add highlights to it. They remind us of things beyond ourselves and put us squarely in God's courts again in a pleasant and hopeful way. There is too much of the daily grind that seems directed toward wearing down any possibility of hope, any fragment, wisp, or trace of trust. These things do not reestablish trust or hope necessarily, but they are small gifts, tokens along the way--one way the Father says, "I love you." And they are one way we can understand that message in the churn of daily life.
God is where you look for Him, in every situation, in every place, in every moment. Indeed, because He dwells within us, He is present to us always. We need merely take the opportunities to be present to Him and thank Him for the many graces and blessings that come to us because of Him.
