Lessons from an Illusionist

My beloved wife surprised me with a trip to Niagara Falls this past weekend. It has been a year since we moved to Canada and I still had not soaked up the glitz, glamor and kitsch of the 7th wonder of the world. So off we went to celebrate our 10th anniversary/my birthday.
It was awesome! So much of what I expected- neon signs, big crowds and casinos that seemed to stretch on forever. Oh yeah, the actual falls were pretty nice too, but I was there to see what man had made.
I was there to see the 8th wonder of the world- illusionist Greg Frewin (I'm not making that up, it was on one of the posters!). Robin and I had a great time, and I'd actually recommend the show based on the facts that 1) I had a good time, and 2) I have no idea where else in Canada you can see a show like this. But here are a few of my observations which may, or may not, have something to do with launching a church:

1) Entryways matter. While the theatre was very nicely renovated, they still have some work to do on the entryway. You may never notice a nice foyer with great signs, friendly greeters, and accessible information, but you sure do notice when it's missing.
2) Great food is great! Hospitality is so important. It's better to have a few items that are really good than a endless supply of garbage. The buffet did this well. The only disappointment was dessert- don't miss the most important part of the meal!
3) Good help is hard to find. I felt so bad for Greg- it would appear that he had a new techy on staff, and I wouldn't be surprised if the guy got fired after the show. He missed his mark at the start of nearly every trick. The "magic" was broken almost every. And while Greg was on his game, you could tell he was getting very upset. Finding the right help, hit the marks, making the program work is everything. While the individual tricks were great, we never got "lost" in the show. Greg was helpless to make things work during the show, but I'm sure he's done everything in his power to fix the problem for the next show.
4) Typos are a distraction. I should learn this lesson much better. A church is inevitably going to have mistakes as the information changes so much every week, but never should a mistake be carried over to the next service.
5) Don't mis-represent what you are. Here is was what disappointed me most- from the pictures I saw I expected smoke machines, pyrotechnics, wild animals and dancing girls in giant feathery hats and sequins. And that's what I wanted- over the top, larger than life, I can't believe it type of show. It just wasn't quite that. The dancers were great, the costumes so-so, the animals were amazing, but we didn't see much of them, and no smoke- come on!

But I don't want to sound too negative- I still had a GREAT time at the show and appreciate my wife for all her work. The food, the magic tricks themselves, the whole evening out- I loved it.

Here's my final thought on the weekend- our insatiable need to try to improve on things. Humans have this burning desire to take something in its raw form and try to develop it further. In its best form it takes something like, say, a chunk of stone, and turns it into the statue of David by Michaelangelo (but even at that you wouldn't want every stone turned into a naked dude).
At its worst, it takes a majestic waterfall and turns it into "Niagara Falls." We take the 7th wonder of the world and add lights, boats, tours, games, rides, wax museums, casinos and haunted houses. What the deal with haunted houses? I counted at least 4.
So while I loved basking in all the glitz of Niagara, after one day, Saturday, Robin and I were ready to escape. So on Sunday we hit the Falls Parkway, hiked into the Glenn, which was awesome, took a sail boat ride in the afternoon (thanks Uncle Dave and Aunt Joanne).
And I must say that I wouldn't have wanted it any other way- after enjoying all "man" had built up on Saturday, it felt right that on Sunday we should worship, enjoy creation, escape the noise and the lights and the busy-ness of it all.
And likewise, while our church might meet in a theatre, while the band will rock and the venue is about as built up as one can imagine, still we hope, we pray, that it is a place to find refuge from a world of glitz and glam, and find connection with God and His people.