The World Is Bigger Than You Think

Living in Southern California with a wife and two kids, we availed ourselves several times of annual passes to Disneyland. At the time, an annual pass cost about the same as two park visits, but Disney made their money by selling us stuff — mostly food — each time we went. And, determined to get our money's worth out of the passes, we went often.

I cherish the memories. I close my eyes and see my family riding Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the "Matterhorn bobsleds." We ride through the Haunted Mansion, visit the Country Bear Jamboree, and take the Skyway to Tomorrowland where we are moved by the People Mover, and later by the short-lived Rocket Rods. We watched Captain Eo in a test screening a few weeks before it actually opened. We loved the old version of Mr. Lincoln and the old "American Journeys" in Circle Vision 360. Then there's the park itself and its idyllic reflections of the world — Main Street, New Orleans Square, Frontierland, and Adventureland. I enjoyed Disneyland as much as my kids — mostly because of them.

But one "attraction" is different. I rode it the first time I went to the park and never, ever again — "It's A Small World After All." On his "Wonderful World of Color" broadcasts in the mid-sixties, Walt Disney made it sound fabulous. In reality, it is a thing without end that should instead be without beginning. The ride communicates a lovely message of world peace, then communicates it again and again and again, on and on, etc., etc. There are only so many multi cultural animatronic children singing that sugary little diddee of a song that you can take on one boat ride.

Looking back on recent work, I wonder if I was rebelling against that song, that ride and its cutesy little faux children. . . .

Stone Mansion
I finally finished a novel I've been working on in fits and starts for years. Not wanting to personally pitch the novel to publishers, I decided to pitch it to an agent instead. The first one I approached (maybe he'll say "yes" and also be the last) placed on his website a list of things he said would enhance a fiction submission. Answering his questions gave me interesting insight into my own work and motivation.

"Create a Promo Sentence and a Sales Handle — these are the bits you see on the front cover of a novel or as a headline across the back cover."

For a promo sentence, I wrote: The world is bigger than you think. Sales handle: A teenager and his dad living in the middle of nowhere find themselves at the center of everything.

Before submitting the package to the agent (did I mention you should pray for him?) I emailed his questions and my answers to a group of trusted friends, asking for frank evaluations.

The living person I have spent more time writing with than anyone else, someone whose opinion I trust like my own, did not like, The world is bigger than you think. Knowing the novel contains suspenseful, creepy scenes, as well as lots of action-adventure, he felt the promo line sounded too bright. He wrote, "This gives me a sense that this young man is about to go out into the world and discover wonderful things that he's never dreamt of."

He made a good point. Cover art could place the words in a darker context, but I wasn't writing for the book's actual cover. I was writing for an audience of one, and the agent would see the words without cover art.

I wound up keeping the line. It does not convey the sense of dark, brooding danger sometimes present in the novel, but, to me, it conveys the novel's essence.

My friend wondered how such a statement could be true, saying, "This depends on how big you think the world is."

Obviously, I can't know a particular reader's conception of the world's size. But I can know it is bigger than he thinks. Human minds cannot fathom the greatness of God, nor the love He has chosen to invest in us. By placing us here, God made the world great. From the words "For God so loved the world," we can infer many things, including — The world is bigger than you think.

The world is full of human beings, and we cannot fathom the significance of a single human life, or a single instant in that life, even our own. If sin is a choice, and sin is enough to justly send someone to an eternal hell, then every decision is of immense importance. Since we can't fathom infinity, we can't fathom the enormity of even seemingly small parts of our lives. And since all have sinned, our redemption is also far, far bigger than we can possibly grasp.

The alternative is to say that the things we do, say, feel, experience, enjoy, hate and love have no real significance.

Either we're something or nothing. There is no in-between.

The World is Bigger Than You Think — Part 2
If things work according to plan, Lindsey Lohan, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and others will help show the practical application of all this in Part 2. (That's quite a star-studded program. Too bad they know nothing about it.)

In the meantime, look at Forgotten Corner of the Universe and Forgotten Corner of YouTube,for more discussion of this vital topic.

Posted: 12-12-2008
Note: At original posting, all links were active.