Autumn Creek Spiritual Center

 The Amusement Park

I would like to bring you the story of a small person who goes to an amusement park. (Your language is wonderful. An amusement park is a place where you find muses. I am, after all, your muse.) A young boy is brought by his parents to an amusement park. He is taken to various small rides and small concessions. He especially enjoys the rides with small animals and the small cars that beat each other up.

His parents are very tolerant and watchful of him. Over the years they return many times to the amusement park. As they do so, the child grows past the smallest amusements. He moved to a circular wheel with animals that bob up and down. There were hollowed out logs, into which the child would climb, and watched closely by his parents, would ride down a long stream of water, ending up wet and smiling at the end.

Time passes. The child has grown. He has discovered the roller coaster. Not so much a child anymore, larger, an adult almost, he stands in line for hours while his parents, and the friends and loved ones who have accompanied him to the park watch. He rides over and over again on the roller coaster, up, down, around, over and over and over.

Fully adult now, as time has passed, and every time the ride comes to a stop, he runs to the end of the line to get another ticket. To then stand in the long line to get back on the roller coaster.

This has, over time, become very boring for the friends and relatives he has taken with him. They have long since retired to an open-air coffee bar. It is one that is close. It is one that is convenient. They can watch.

While they enjoy coffee and croissants, he runs to the end of the line, to ride yet again on the rollercoaster. Time passes, and he is always in line for the rollercoaster. Time continues to pass and he is always in line for the rollercoaster.

Ages go by and he begins to understand that the thrill of the rollercoaster, the highs and lows, the twists and turns, the speed, are always the same. It is always the same. The track upon which the rollercoaster runs does not allow any deviation from the pattern. You climb a very large hill and you know that the next thing that is coming is the stomach-wrenching drop. Followed by twists and turns and another long ascent, followed by a drop. It is always the same.

He looked around, thinking that there must be something else, and as he looked around he found examples in his society.

He found religious leaders that were on top, laid low by a long drop. He found corporations that were once jewels, laid low by a long drop. He found religious institutions laid low by a long drop. He found educational institutions laid low by a long drop.

Everywhere he looked this view was reinforced. Over and over in the governmental, religious, business and personal structures of society, the long ascent was almost always followed by a deep stomach-rending drop.

More ages passed. He continues to see this in his society, as he continues to stand in line for one more ride on the rollercoaster. His emotions feel so good. The adrenaline courses through his body. It is a wonderful thing this roller coaster!

Until - as he stands in line one day he understands, or the glimmering of understanding comes to him, and he realizes that the only difference in all the thousands of rides he has taken, has been the person seated next to him in the car. Everything else has been the same. The track will never deviate.

He steps from the line and walks over to his friends who are still drinking coffee, and are currently in the middle of a good game of pinochle. They look up and say, "Oh, hello. It's been a long time since you have come to see us. What can we do for you?" He sits down with them, orders a cup of coffee, and in the course of conversation says, "You know, I've been riding this roller coaster for so long and it's always the same. I have been wondering is this all there is? Is there nothing else? Is this all there is in the park?"

His friends applauded. For so long they had waited to hear those words. "No, my friend. This is not all that's in the park. Come with us." They took him to the exact center of the park. In the exact center of the park is a tall tower, an open-sided tower. They led him to the entrance. (Another word to explore, entrance.) They led him to the door and said, "Here, this is an amusement you have not taken." He looked at the tower with its drab paint, no elevator, no walls, and he said, "This doesn't look like much fun. There's no elevator, so I would have to climb the stairs. It's very tall with lots of stairways, and I wouldn't know which one to take. The worst thing is, there is no one else here. This can't be a popular ride. All I can see are a few people wandering around all over the place. The only thing they seem to have in common is they're all going up." His friends shouted, "You've got it!" "Well, I don't know." he said, and walked back to the roller coaster. His friends walked back and ordered fresh coffee.

Time passes. Several times as he would stand in line to get on the roller coaster, he would walk over and look at the tower. He would walk around it, then walk back, and once again get in line for the roller coaster.

Time passes. Many, many times, he went and stood before the entrance to the tower, then went back and stood in line. Finally, one day, instead of standing in line he went to his friends, interrupted their coffee and said, "Ok, I'll do it." His friends applauded. "We have been waiting for your decision. We are so pleased!" They escorted him to the tower once again. He walked up and stopped at the door. "Now, when I open this door where do I go?" he asked. His friends said, "That's up to you." "But, what stairway do I take?" "Any one you choose." "The rooms have no walls." "You may build walls or not, it is your choice." "When I look up I can't see the top of the tower. How far does it go?" "As far as you are willing to climb." "But there is still no one here." "Oh, yes. We are here. We have always been here. We have waited for eons of time while you grew past the rollercoaster of your emotions. We will go with you. We will help you climb, and when you can not climb any more we will carry you."

My friends, tonight you stand before that door, and your friends await your decision. Do you climb? Or do you stand in line? Your friends, who are surrounding you now, who are bringing you love, who are bringing you healing, await your decision.

Commentary

De Rah states that an amusement park is a place where you find muses, and he is our muse. Let's break down amusement into two words; muse and amuse.

Muse - a spirit who inspires, a source of inspiration.
Amuse - to engage the attention of, to keep pleasantly occupied and interested.

De Rah is a spirit, our source of inspiration. He will engage our attention and keep us pleasantly occupied while he relates his lesson. At a later point in the dialog De Rah says we should also explore the word "entrance." From Webster's we read the following:

Entrance - to enrapture, to move to delight beyond measure.

We should apply this definition to the entrance to the tower.

Symbolism

The roller coaster represents life as a physical human. Physical life has its emotional ups and downs, its twists and turns, its wrenching drops. Through reincarnation we experience life after life and eventually discover that all the rides on the roller coaster are the same. The only change is the person in the seat beside you, the ones sharing each physical life, or ride.

Standing in line for another ticket refers to waiting our turn to be born again as a physical human. To take one more ride through life.

Eventually, we have experienced so many physical lives we become bored with the ride. We begin to wonder, "Is this all there is?" We start to yearn for a more spiritual experience, a more fulfilling ride.

The friends at the coffee bar represent our spiritual guides and teachers. They wait patiently for us to grow past the physical amusements and open our eyes to our spiritual potential.

The tower represents spiritual growth and development. The entrance to the tower is the doorway to "delight beyond measure," the beginning of our journey on the spiritual path. Its location in the exact center of the park reflects our being in the "center" of our contract with Spirit. Our guides and teachers will always be there to support and assist us as we begin our upward climb. We create our own reality, walls, rooms, stairways, by the choices we make along the way.

Today the choice is ours, the old familiar ride that requires no effort and goes nowhere new, or the drab, open tower that must be climbed and leads upward into undiscovered potential.