Go Time

Disney never ceases to amaze me.  For my family it has become a familiar destination as we can't seem to avoid a trip for longer than a year or two.  It is a fun tradition that marks time among us: "How old was Riley when we did that?...Graydon wasn't even born that year..." etc.  The magic of meeting characters...the rides that cater to the entire family...the rides that don't (you'll be big enough next year, etc.).  We love it, manufactured joy or not!

This year's trip was more of the same.  Great family time together focused purely on being together.  Plenty of difficult and rough moments as well, but truly overshadowed by all of the fun.  I could probably pick from many memories and write, and perhaps I will, but there was one specific ride that was HUGE for me and my two oldest: "Mission Space."  Epcot really hit the mark with this one, I believe.  From the start we were each handed warnings to read...basically big fat "caution you are entering dangerous territory" statements that even provided an "opt out" if you wanted to go on the lower impact version.  Nothing better to create a sense of adventure than giving a hint of danger, you know?

So after waiving aside the warnings we enter a room to get a mission briefing.  Gary Sinise, still sporting his unfortunate haircut from the movie "Mission to Mars," was our virtual instructor.  Makes sense because, you guessed it, we're heading to Mars...at least heading into a simulated flight to Mars.  This is the point where things start to get really, really cool.  Each of us has a job to do in flight.  Not only do we have a job, we have a role to play.  Riley is the Navigator.  I'm the Pilot.  Tate is the Commander. Do you begin to see just how cool this scenario is?  We've been warned...this is dangerous...this is a mission and we could get physically sick or disoriented...there is RISK and we have individual, important jobs to do.  Each of us.

So, after following our team's line, painted on the floor, through the hallway and waiting outside the door for a bit (we were team 8, I think), we filed into the chamber and climbed inside our capsule.  I locked the kids into their seats, right and left of me, and they immediately started worrying because the controls are too far away for them.  Not to worry - as the lights go down the entire panel comes to us - each of us watching an individual display screen and looking at our own buttons, switches and joystick.  I'm *so* not doing this real credit - it was incredibly cool.

As the simulation got fired up and moving I was floored by the replicated motion we all felt.  When we blasted off it really felt like we were pulling G's and I thought back to the warnings we'd so easily dismissed earlier.  I have NEVER felt so purely like I was actually in motion (maybe on Soarin' across the park, but that's different in several ways).  We are immersed at this point.  The kids and I are loving this and whooping about how cool it feels and enjoying the ride of it...and then the call of duty begins.

At first, Riley had to push a button to execute our separation from the rocket.  Then Tate had to initiate a slingshot maneuver around the moon.  As we neared our objective, we each had buttons to push and jobs to perform.  The computer prompted each individual to get prepared and then "execute" on cue.  We had an empty seat in our ship, so the computer over-rode any "Engineer" processes to help keep us on track.  As we approached our landing, a systems error had us overshooting our mark (or maybe it was me, I am the Pilot, after all).  Suddenly, as we tipped precariously over the edge of a chasm, all three of us were called upon to engage our joysticks and initiate some serious maneuvers in order to right the ship and safely land.  All of this couldn't have taken more than, I don't know, three to five minutes...but we were captive to the experience.  We were a team.

As we "disembarked," both kids pleaded to go again.  It was tempting - for whatever reason the park was slow that day and there was virtually no wait for this ride.  I can admit, even now, that I would gladly experience that trip again with them...but I also knew that we could never quite experience it again, ever.  Not in that forum.  Not without it becoming "just another ride."  I reminded them of the FastPass tickets we had for Test Track and we all quickly moved on to the next fun destination.

I hope this hasn't gotten entirely lost in translation - but there was nothing better than this moment for me.  This sense of working hand in hand with my kids, of seeing them come alive in the experience - seeing them live into the roles they had been given.  Three minutes, five minutes, it didn't matter.  How long does it really take for someone to "come alive?"  Last summer it took 4 hours as we negotiated the New River in a canoe together for the first time.  I don't know what it will look like next time...a weekend?  An evening?

But I love seeing it happen.  It was an utter surprise...not something I would expect from Disney.

I wish I could manufacture it and bottle it and shoot it into my veins.  And I suppose that is what some do...or try to do.  And, oddly, even just pursuing "it" for its own sake...climbing mountains, tackling rapids...visiting Disney World every few years...even those are all the same, aren't they? In the end?  Empty?

But in contrast to that, there is nothing better than having someone say "you have something important to do" and then giving you the chance to go do it.  Nothing.  Wouldn't it be great if someone did that for me?  For us?  Do you believe, or dare to hope, that someone might?  Not my boss giving me a goal.  Not my job being the culmination of my last job being the culmination of my college diploma being the culmination of my ability to scrape through high school.  Not the next step...but the mission.  The calling.  My calling.  Could that be real?

"But I do more than thank. I ask - ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory - to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for Christians, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him - endless energy, boundless strength!"  (The Message - Eph 1.18)

Man.  I don't mean to openly doubt scripture...but can I believe in that?  Can I trust it?  Really?

For me, not as a guy promoting an event or even as a guy trying to open myself up to others through this blog, but just as a guy trying to walk this life out, its worth the chance.  Its worth hoping for...that God would even give me a hint of that is worth it.  Certainly worth a few days of my life and a couple hundred bucks.

Gary Sinise, in our briefing, introduced us to the phrase, "Its Go Time."  Not that I hadn't heard it before.  Not that it isn't cheesy or hackney or silly in other circumstance.  But inside the experience that we shared, "Go Time," came to be a call to action.  And it has lingered for a time as an inside reference between us three.  A shared secret that, to a degree, transports us back to the shared experience.  I can't really fathom what it might be like to have the Lord our God tell me: its Go Time.  But I think I'll go take a chance that he might...if you care to join me visit www.piercing-the-veil.com and sign up for The Calling retreat with Gary Barkalow.  Sincerely hope to see you there.