Our family took an impromptu road trip to Kings Island last month, squeezing one more bit of vacation out of the summer before it ends. I texted a few friends and family with whom I grew up visiting the amusement park, telling them I was “having flashbacks” as I walked through the entrance.
While the fountains and water features just inside the gates and the large, mock Eiffel Tower look just like they always have in my estimation (which is how they looked back when the Brady Bunch visited the park), lots of other things have changed. I wasn’t sure what to make of it all, but I can say I was sorry to see my nostalgic trip down Memory Lane end so soon.
As you may know, so much has been added and changed by more up-to-date cultural influence. Most notably, rides that used to be named so simply have taken on corporate sponsorship. What used to be known as “The Beastie,” a children’s version of the legendary coaster “The Beast,” is now called the “Fairly Odd Coaster,” named after a cartoon on Nickelodeon. Similarly, what use to be ingeniously called the “Log Ride,” because you rode around in a log and got splashed by water at the end of the hill, is now named the “The Wild Thornberry’s River Adventure,” again, after another Nickelodeon cartoon. And those simple swings where even the youngest of kids can sit in and, well, swing around in a circle, aren’t just “swings” anymore. They’re the “Backyardigans’ Swing-Along,” thanks again to Nickelodeon.
I admit, it wasn’t enough to get angry about, but odd and different and, because my trip down Memory Lane hit a dead-end much sooner than I’d expected, I was disappointed.
It didn’t take me long to realize that this is how so many Christians feel when it comes to living together in the Church. Whether it’s a new hymnal, a different style or time for worship or even a profound theological understanding, when things change – especially when they’re different from something that’s attached to a fond memory or a warm feeling in our heart of hearts – we get prickly about it. It may not always be a big enough deal to get angry about, but “odd” and “different” take some patience and some getting used to.
Join me in remembering this over the coming months as we continue to pray and to plan for some kind of change to our Sunday morning routine this fall, and as we continue to grow and change in other ways, too, in all the years that are ahead for us as a family of faith.
My kids had a blast at Kings Island while we were there – and so did I. I remembered, after all, that I hadn’t made the trip just for me. I was there to share something fun and exciting and new with my children. And, of course, their wide eyes and big smiles and hearty laughter made my day.
God is always up to something new and different and challenging among us. It may not include corporate sponsorship. It may not always be simple. But the gifts of grace that come our way when we remain open to God’s Spirit in our midst are always worth the ride.
See you in worship,
+Mark
