Spiritual Lessons I Learned At Disney World

June 08, 2011 by Greg Garrett

Continued from Page 2

In the Gospel of Matthew, the Greek word ecclesia is typically translated as "church," but as I've explained before, the word refers to a group of people who come together around a shared experience or shared beliefs and journey together. The shared experience or mythos may be one of the reasons that Universal Studios doesn't command the same kind of magical reactions as Disney; these characters and stories have become an important part of many of our lives from childhood, entertaining us, morally edifying us, and encouraging us to dream, to love, to be heroic. Jiminy Cricket and Snow White and Simba the Lion and Cinderella and Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast: these are stories that have shaped us, and when we come together at Disney, wherever we come from, we temporarily become a sort of faithful community gathered around these shared narratives, images, and experiences.

And that is what the Church is, at its best—a gathering of people centered around our sacred stories, around our common quest to seek the will of God, around ritual and action. Our sacred ecclesias could learn from Disney, which brings together more diverse communities than any of our churches, throws them together in ways that ought to involve United Nations peacekeeping forces, and nonetheless provides almost every single guest, couple, or family with one of the most memorable experiences of their lives.

Perhaps if in our faith communities we paid attention to our shared stories, to the sense of joy and wonder, and to the beauty of each moment as well as we are encouraged to do in Disney World, we would all be better off.

In any case, I think it's worth a try.

May we all learn such spiritual lessons this summer, and until next time—when I write from Wales—may God bless you and hold you in the palm of her hand.

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6/8/2011 4:00:00 AM

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About Greg Garrett

Greg Garrett is (according to BBC Radio) one of America's leading voices on religion and culture. He is the author or co-author of over twenty books of fiction, theology, cultural criticism, and spiritual autobiography. His most recent books are The Prodigal, written with the legendary Brennan Manning, Entertaining Judgment: The Afterlife in Popular Imagination, and My Church Is Not Dying: Episcopalians in the 21st Century. A contributor to Patheos since 2010, Greg also writes for the Huffington Post, Salon.com, OnFaith, The Tablet, Reform, and other web and print publications in the US and UK.

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