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I’m not the biggest fan of Disneyland. I realize that this is anathema to many people, one of them who happens to be my sister, but alas, its true. Disneyland is highly over-rated. Maybe its great for children, but for adults I don’t understand the allure.

For a while, I didn’t know why I was apathetic to the Magic Kingdom, but I’ve recently realized the cause. When you are at Disneyland (or any Disney theme park), everything is a poor substitute for something real. Instead of climbing the Matterhorn, you ride around a caricature of it in a cart. Instead of visiting various cultures, you glide in a boat listening to an annoyingly persistent song. Every experience at Disneyland is a manufactured one – designed to create a reduced representation of something great. It’s called the place “where dreams come true”, but its not. Its where contrived versions of dreams are produced and where people settle for less than greatness in exchange for convenience. And the really weird thing is that when you are there, you really are in another world. You can spend an entire day in one of Disney’s parks and never venture into the community in which it resides. You were there, without ever making an appearance. This may or may not have been Walt’s original intention, but it is what’s come to be.

I fear that being content with manufactured experiences isn’t exclusive to Disney, We all settle for less – sometimes its cause of fear, other times its because of expense, sometimes its just laziness. God has given us a banquet and we opt for fast food. Instead, may we always experience the bountifulness of His blessings.

As a youth, I infamously remarked once “it’s the gift that counts.” Years of teasing, and frequent attempts at trying to explain, have left me with one conclusion. . . I was right. It is the gift that counts, if you’re the giver.

This was brought to mind recently when I heard a pastor exposit on contentedness. This is a subject that’s near and dear to my heart and so I listened with rapt attention. One point that I found extremely interesting was that God commands us to be content with what we do have, not content with what we’re without (Mike Fabarez, Nov. 28, 2007). In other words, the focus is not on our lack, its on our abundance. Regardless of what we have, all of God’s children have exceeding riches (See Ephesians 1:7). Additionally God has given us many physical things “for our enjoyment” (See I Timothy 6:17). Some, those who are ascetics, believe that physical goods are trappings and should be disposed of. However, Paul makes it clear that we are to trust that these good things come from the One who is Good, and enjoy them accordingly.

Continuing his charge, Paul admonishes those who are rich in physical goods to share generously with others. Although this goes outside of the bounds of Paul’s instructions, I believe that one of the reasons for this is because it is the most pronounced way that we can enjoy these physical blessings. When we share with others, our enjoyment increases. When we can use what we’ve been given to be a blessing, we’ve helped advance the Kingdom. Giving isn’t just good for the recipient, its good for the giver. It brings the giver enjoyment.

My remark from when I was younger was, in all honesty, a mistake. But sometimes the “folly of our youth” can prove more wise than we originally anticipated.