It's a Small World

DateLine (12/07/05 – Ponce, Puerto Rico)

It was a hot summer day in Florida during the 1980s and Harriett and I were at the Magic Kingdom® Park, Walt Disney World® Resort in Florida with our two girls. We had already spent enough time at the park on this hot day that we desperately needed a respite from the heat. We stepped into the queue at the closest attraction that presented cool blowing air. That’s when I heard the music.

It's a world of laughter, a world of tears,
It's a world of hopes and a world of fears,
There's so much that we share,
It is time we're aware.
It's a small small world.

It's a small world after all,
It's a small world after all,
There's so much that we share,
It is time we're aware.
It's a small small world

Now normally Disney is known for fast moving queues or at least providing enough entertaining or intriguing distractions so that you don’t notice that you’re idling time away in a park where you’ve spent 100s of dollars to gain admission just to stand in line. I guess it was about the 10th time of hearing the theme song to “It’s a Small World” that I realized that somehow this song had irritated my last nerve. To add insult to injury I soon found that once we had worked our way into the attraction we would board a boat that would cruise us past nearly 300 *Audio- Animatronic(tm)* children from more than 100 different nations singing, dancing, and entertaining us to this same “happy” tune. Now normally I’m not one to be easily agitated but this pushed me past my point of tolerance (OK truth is I can fall victim to agitation given a certain level of stress.)

Ok so what does this have to do with us during this holiday season? A few weeks ago something triggered in my mind the memory of the occasion that I’ve just described on our vacation. I’m sure that Disney was simply trying to remind us through a child’s attraction that we are in fact members of a global family with more in common than not. In fact there is deep political, spiritual, and commercial innuendo in this seemingly “light” message. Indeed to the Christian we have a responsibility to the entire world community, it is called evangelism.

But it’s not to this concept of the global community that I’d like to focus our attention. Some of my special memories of Christmas come from time spent with the small world right around me; family, friends, and church, and it’s my opinion that God is ok with that. For a brief time of the year the pace wanes, the gaiety waxes, and the spirit is renewed.

Almost 2000 years ago a small baby entered into the small world by way of a manger in the small Hebrew village of Bethlehem. A small group of curious bystanders were drawn to His side. During this Christmas season we act out the celebration of this small family with our family. A small event that reverberates down the corridors of time.

And remember:

There's so much that we share,
It is time we're aware.
It's a small small world.