The month of November has flown by! And here, on the last day of the month we find the first day, for Christians, of Advent. As the years have gone by Christmas, which was always my favorite holiday has a child, has grown increasingly special. And Advent, this time of preparation and anticipation, is no doubt a part of that process.
Although this morning is grey and overcast, a week ago I was basking in the sun of Southern California. I was in San Diego, attending the American Academy of Religion's annual conference. The weather was great and the city was wonderful, the convention was also a great experience. I took part in a panel that focused on Disney (astute readers of this blog know that Book 5 is centering on just that topic), and I delivered a paper about Christmas at Disney (and said readers also know this is a topic I've discussed before as well). One of the points I raised was of the Osborne Family light show at Hollywood Studios. In the process of doing so, I talked about the Nativity set that kicks the display off. During the question and answer time, that topic came back up, and one of my co-panelists commented that she believed the Nativity to be something of an "afterthought."
I have thought about that comment quite a bit over the past week. And I have to respectfully disagree. First, for Christians, the Nativity is hardly an afterthought at all, but rather the center of the entire Christmas experience. Having one as part of the display, especially when one considers some of the light displays themselves, certainly makes a good deal of sense. But then there is a second reason: Disney doesn't really do "afterthoughts." Every portion of the parks are thought out, both in terms of design, as well as display and function. The Nativity is there because it is supposed to be there. And on this first Sunday of Advent, that idea should be front and center.
Coming home from the conference, I arrived to a short week which ended in Thanksgiving. Obviously, it was Thanksgiving in the holiday sense--complete with trips to see family and eat a good deal of turkey. But thanksgiving as well because Book 3 (Interpreting the Prohibition Era) is now out and (most importantly for me) my author copies arrived. As a professional historian and writer, it is always gratifying to see the final product and even more so to hold it in your hands. It is my hope that the book will serve its intended purpose.
Showing posts with label Osborne family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Osborne family. Show all posts
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Revisiting Christmas at Disney (Part 1)
My wife loves Christmas. Each year it seems, our celebrations get bigger, and our traditions grow. And I love every minute of it right along side her, and the joy it brings us to be with family and friends, and the memories we are making with our children. So, it was little surprise that, have really enjoyed coming to the Magic Kingdom in January, we decided that we would kick off the 2013 Holiday Season at Walt Disney World as well.
As such, we found ourselves partaking, once again, and this time truly soaking in (because we knew better what to expect) the Osborne Family's light display at Disney's Hollywood Studios. As readers of this blog know, this experience back in January prompted a blog post as well (indeed, to date, it is the most visited post I've made as part of this blog).
The experience, to borrow a word so often heard at Disney, is magical. The lights, the music, the "snow" (soap foam). It is nearly perfect. I'll not rehash the arguments I made in that earlier post here. Rather I'll simply say that it is very special, and a very nice way to start thinking about Christmas during this holiday season.
This trip has gotten me thinking about Disney in other respects as well on the academic front. And that is to what degree Walt Disney (and the Company that continues to bear his name) were actively involved in not just story telling, but in creating a working, modern, mythology -- both for Americans and one might argue Western Civilization. In some respects, that involves a standardization of stories (akin to what the Brothers Grimm once did). In others, it might be crafting an agenda of sorts (what do the stories, as Disney related them, say about children or parents, men and women, etc). How has globalization (as well as say consumerism changed/altered that vision)? What role should historic accuracy play in telling these stories? For me, thinking about those lights again, I'm also left asking what the role of faith/religion/Christianity is in all that story telling as well.
These are all good questions I think. But for now, still warmed by the memories, I'll look once again at those lights and be thankful for the family that first put them up and the company that keeps on doing it.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Christmas at Disney World
This year for Christmas, my wife and I gave our kids the gift of a nearly week long trip to Walt Disney World in Florida. Considering the turn the weather took the day after Christmas at home in Indiana, and how nice it turned out to be in Florida, it also ended up being a gift to us as well!
Now, for those of you who have read this blog before, you know this isn't a travel blog. This is supposed to be about my book about Mainline Christianity -- stick with me, and I'll get there, I promise. For those of you who are stumbling upon this blog because you are looking for a review of the new Fantasy Land, let me just say now it is awesome, and you should start your day with Belle!
Now, how did I come to post about Disney World on this book blog? I surely didn't intend to do so, but one of the nice things about a vacation that includes waiting in line (unless you can Fast Pass -- which you should) is that you get some time to think. And for me, this post started when we visited EPCOT and my son, while we were in Norway said "let's go into that church." For those of you who are rusty on your EPCOT Norwegian lay of the land, the pavilion includes a stave church building (which houses an exhibit on the Vikings). My son's request got me thinking about where God was at Disney World (which very could, as I thought some more about it, be a whole article in and of itself). But this is not that article, rather, this is about Disney World at Christmas time, and what American Mainline Christianity (whether of the old or new variety) might learn from the House of Mouse.
Before anyone assumes this is going to be some new angle on the whole "church as business model" let me lay those hopes/fears aside for you. It is not (remember, this is not that article). While I think there are some valid arguments/examples one could make (as well as a warnings, including that "one size does not fit all") along those lines, this post is about Disney at Christmastime. You see, one of the main reasons my wife and I had decided to do this trip (besides that we have a wonderful time here in Florida, along with the aforementioned weather issue) was that we wanted to see what Disney did for Christmas. Not for any academic reasons (this post aside) but just to see it. We knew we weren't going to make the journey AT Christmas, but after a quick check, discovered that the parks stayed decorated into the New Year. And that sealed the deal!
What Disney does to their parks at Christmas is pretty special. The lights are awesome. The displays are cute. The merchandise is everywhere. One could visit Disney World at Christmas and see nothing but commercialization and consumerism and even secularization run amok. Indeed, a trip here at Christmastime might fire some members of American Mainline Christianity into bemoaning what the Magic Kingdom has done or at least is a symptom of to culture, including Christian culture, for all those reasons. Before you know it, we'd see calls for boycotts, petitions asking Disney to support "traditional values," and maybe even op-eds about Disney's image as "family friendly" while making money off of movie divisions that "glorify violence" or some such. If that seems far fetched, it shouldn't -- all those things have happened in the last 10 to 15 years (usually from some corner of the Religious Right, or from evangelical circles, and all with precious little to show for it).
But before that happens here, let me ask you, dear reader, to step back -- either from launching such a drive or from shaking your head at those who would -- and join me for a second at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Click on that highlighted hyperlink and behold the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. You'll be beholding for awhile, as there are some 5 million lights involved. And let me tell you what I saw, and heard, just the other night, when I beheld them for the first time: the very spirit of Christmas.
We were directed by the park staff (those "cast members" in Disney speak) down and around the byways of park's streets to begin in front of a Nativity light display. We'd seen it earlier in the day of course, and I'd thought it odd that it seemed tucked away near the back of the (then unlit) display area. But now I understood why. You start there, away from the bulk of the display, so that those lights stand out more. They draw you in. Soon enough, you are pulled away (if only by the strength of the crowd) to other displays. Some are religious in nature (the wise men, angels, peace on earth) some are not. But even when you aren't focused visually on the Nativity, you are never far from it, thanks to the music that is playing -- sounds of the season, some secular, some holy, but all Christmas.
And that trip through the lights got me thinking. I have heard Christmas music virtually everyday since late November. At Disney World it was playing still. "Light" seemed to be the buzzword this year at the Advent and Christmas services I either attended or watched. Here were 5 million lights in just one section of one Disney park. The people I had attended services with -- friends, family, neighbors -- had all likely heard those messages before. Here at Disney World, I was hearing (and singing) some of the same hymns, "seeing" the same message, with thousands of people I didn't know, literally from every corner of the globe (and not just at EPCOT -- we saw groups from various Central and South American nations, and encountered visitors from across Europe, as well as from Asia and Australia, amongst other places). Can any American denomination, inside or outside, the Mainline say their message (while no doubt more deeply seeded with theology and doctrine) was heard by so many? Did any have such an "evangelizing moment" to reach out to those outside of the Christian faith and tradition (those whom many American evangelicals would have once called "the lost," or "unreached") with the Good News of Christ's birth?
Now, I'm not saying that Disney World was attempting to spread the Christmas message of the Church in an evangelizing way. If it gets cold and snowy enough in Indiana later this winter, you might even get me to say (as my favorite of Snow White's dwarfs, Grumpy, might do) that even if they were, it wouldn't make up for all the commercialization and secular message that comes with it. But that doesn't mean that there isn't a lesson to be had in all of this about the Mainline of American Christianity either. If a secular corporation can do this, (or this) what more can (and should) the Church be doing? As one of my favorite sermons from this past Advent season pointed out, Christmas started with Christianity and the Church -- and Christians should not be afraid to say so! Perhaps scholars need to look a bit more deeply into issues of culture (something that gets a few pages in the Mainline book, but no doubt needs more attention). Maybe there is more for the church planners (as well as those who study such movements) to learn about/from the whole "corporation model" of Church growth. With less than a year until the start of the next Advent and Christmas season, there is still time to think about such things before they are upon us again. And there is also time to reflect that sometimes such epiphanies can come to us at the most unexpected times and places -- not unlike that very first Christmas itself.
Now, for those of you who have read this blog before, you know this isn't a travel blog. This is supposed to be about my book about Mainline Christianity -- stick with me, and I'll get there, I promise. For those of you who are stumbling upon this blog because you are looking for a review of the new Fantasy Land, let me just say now it is awesome, and you should start your day with Belle!
Now, how did I come to post about Disney World on this book blog? I surely didn't intend to do so, but one of the nice things about a vacation that includes waiting in line (unless you can Fast Pass -- which you should) is that you get some time to think. And for me, this post started when we visited EPCOT and my son, while we were in Norway said "let's go into that church." For those of you who are rusty on your EPCOT Norwegian lay of the land, the pavilion includes a stave church building (which houses an exhibit on the Vikings). My son's request got me thinking about where God was at Disney World (which very could, as I thought some more about it, be a whole article in and of itself). But this is not that article, rather, this is about Disney World at Christmas time, and what American Mainline Christianity (whether of the old or new variety) might learn from the House of Mouse.
Before anyone assumes this is going to be some new angle on the whole "church as business model" let me lay those hopes/fears aside for you. It is not (remember, this is not that article). While I think there are some valid arguments/examples one could make (as well as a warnings, including that "one size does not fit all") along those lines, this post is about Disney at Christmastime. You see, one of the main reasons my wife and I had decided to do this trip (besides that we have a wonderful time here in Florida, along with the aforementioned weather issue) was that we wanted to see what Disney did for Christmas. Not for any academic reasons (this post aside) but just to see it. We knew we weren't going to make the journey AT Christmas, but after a quick check, discovered that the parks stayed decorated into the New Year. And that sealed the deal!
What Disney does to their parks at Christmas is pretty special. The lights are awesome. The displays are cute. The merchandise is everywhere. One could visit Disney World at Christmas and see nothing but commercialization and consumerism and even secularization run amok. Indeed, a trip here at Christmastime might fire some members of American Mainline Christianity into bemoaning what the Magic Kingdom has done or at least is a symptom of to culture, including Christian culture, for all those reasons. Before you know it, we'd see calls for boycotts, petitions asking Disney to support "traditional values," and maybe even op-eds about Disney's image as "family friendly" while making money off of movie divisions that "glorify violence" or some such. If that seems far fetched, it shouldn't -- all those things have happened in the last 10 to 15 years (usually from some corner of the Religious Right, or from evangelical circles, and all with precious little to show for it).
But before that happens here, let me ask you, dear reader, to step back -- either from launching such a drive or from shaking your head at those who would -- and join me for a second at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Click on that highlighted hyperlink and behold the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. You'll be beholding for awhile, as there are some 5 million lights involved. And let me tell you what I saw, and heard, just the other night, when I beheld them for the first time: the very spirit of Christmas.
We were directed by the park staff (those "cast members" in Disney speak) down and around the byways of park's streets to begin in front of a Nativity light display. We'd seen it earlier in the day of course, and I'd thought it odd that it seemed tucked away near the back of the (then unlit) display area. But now I understood why. You start there, away from the bulk of the display, so that those lights stand out more. They draw you in. Soon enough, you are pulled away (if only by the strength of the crowd) to other displays. Some are religious in nature (the wise men, angels, peace on earth) some are not. But even when you aren't focused visually on the Nativity, you are never far from it, thanks to the music that is playing -- sounds of the season, some secular, some holy, but all Christmas.
And that trip through the lights got me thinking. I have heard Christmas music virtually everyday since late November. At Disney World it was playing still. "Light" seemed to be the buzzword this year at the Advent and Christmas services I either attended or watched. Here were 5 million lights in just one section of one Disney park. The people I had attended services with -- friends, family, neighbors -- had all likely heard those messages before. Here at Disney World, I was hearing (and singing) some of the same hymns, "seeing" the same message, with thousands of people I didn't know, literally from every corner of the globe (and not just at EPCOT -- we saw groups from various Central and South American nations, and encountered visitors from across Europe, as well as from Asia and Australia, amongst other places). Can any American denomination, inside or outside, the Mainline say their message (while no doubt more deeply seeded with theology and doctrine) was heard by so many? Did any have such an "evangelizing moment" to reach out to those outside of the Christian faith and tradition (those whom many American evangelicals would have once called "the lost," or "unreached") with the Good News of Christ's birth?
Now, I'm not saying that Disney World was attempting to spread the Christmas message of the Church in an evangelizing way. If it gets cold and snowy enough in Indiana later this winter, you might even get me to say (as my favorite of Snow White's dwarfs, Grumpy, might do) that even if they were, it wouldn't make up for all the commercialization and secular message that comes with it. But that doesn't mean that there isn't a lesson to be had in all of this about the Mainline of American Christianity either. If a secular corporation can do this, (or this) what more can (and should) the Church be doing? As one of my favorite sermons from this past Advent season pointed out, Christmas started with Christianity and the Church -- and Christians should not be afraid to say so! Perhaps scholars need to look a bit more deeply into issues of culture (something that gets a few pages in the Mainline book, but no doubt needs more attention). Maybe there is more for the church planners (as well as those who study such movements) to learn about/from the whole "corporation model" of Church growth. With less than a year until the start of the next Advent and Christmas season, there is still time to think about such things before they are upon us again. And there is also time to reflect that sometimes such epiphanies can come to us at the most unexpected times and places -- not unlike that very first Christmas itself.
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