Go tell it on the mountain!

I have to tell you about this experience Heather and I had yesterday. Since our year of free trips to Busch Gardens is winding down, we decided we would go one last time. Heather and I love theme parks, and as long as we can avoid the headaches that come from riding roller coasters, we will always have a good time at the park.

OK, maybe we're getting old, but we decided we would sit through one of the many shows that theme parks always have. We went to the Christmas presentation that was being featured for the day. It was much like I expected for the most part. 9 or 10 men and women who were quite talented, could sing and dance and tap dance, and were very friendly. Perhaps a show like this is an alternative to Broadway since not everyone could go there (my wife's suggestion). They were quite good.

Anyway, I expected, for the most part, to hear all the secular Christmas songs we hear in this season of consumerism and Santa Claus. I was right. The first 25 minutes were all songs about White Christmas and Santa Claus.

But quite unexpectedly, one of the performers came out on his own, wearing a very sparkly choir robe. I thought it look very ridiculous. But he started singing O Holy Night. I was very excited. But this triggered a flood of thoughts in my mind. The production began to grow bigger and bigger as everyone else of the performers joined him to sing the song.

My thoughts were overwhelming. Does this guy know what he is singing about? Should he be singing about it if he doesn't know? Maybe it's a situation like Paul speaks about when he writes on those who oppose him in their preaching of Christ and the gospel, but it's OK because at least Christ is being preached. Is their singing of the gospel the same? Even though they may not know what it means, at least the story is being told? What if they knew how huge a deal the message they are singing about is to the world? How huge the changes could be for them and everyone else in this room?

Then they followed O Holy Night with Go Tell it on the Mountain. I was almost crying at this point because the singing and show were really good, but I was torn in my thoughts. They (my thoughts) continued on much like they did in the previous song. But now the thoughts about telling the gospel were hitting a high note.

I was so excited! Are they going to end the show with this call to sharing the gospel? Could it be?! And here's how it ended:


"Go Tell it on the Mountain, over the hills and everywhere! Go tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born!!!!


...



"So you better not shout, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town."...




I was saddened. Big time. Tears welled up. They didn't fall for this occasion, but man I wanted to cry. Yet again, Santa trumps Jesus on Christmas, and in the very same breath.

And that's what I remember most about our last trip to Busch Gardens in 2006.

Later guys,
Matt