Grabbing for the Brass Ring
As they've grown and taken on amusement park sophistication, the older grandkids have skipped the Carousel until later in their day and headed, first of all, to the Phoenix and the Twister to get their fill of roller coaster terror. But there has been a steady stream of younger children in the family who head directly to the very center of the park and its piece de resistance, the park's Grand Dame, the Carousel. We've been to Disney World, and Walt certainly has created a massive entertainment kingdom, but the joy of Knoebel's Park and the Grand Carousel are magnets for us.
"I want the white one," Sadee yelled as she headed toward a pony with a gold halter.
"I want one that goes up and down," Claire said as she climbed aboard a black beauty with teeth bared.
"I'm getting one on the edge because I want to grab for the rings!" Mack declared as he picked a noble-looking stallion.
We were on the Grand Carousel at Knoebels' Amusement Park in Elysburg, PA.
The central attraction of our summer vacation for the last seven years has been a trip to Knoebels for several days of camping and riding. My six grandkids have grown up a bit each summer on the 1913 carousel, one of the largest in the world and voted #1 "Best of the Best" in amusement history by Golden Ticket Awards for the past 17 years.
The children's all-day wrist bands allow limitless rides, but the rider gets off after each ride, stands back in line where there is time to survey the herd, and boards again to choose another from the stable of 63 handsome horses.
The Grand Carousel Organ sets the tone. The old pipe organ plays what has been called some of "the happiest music on earth," with clashing cymbals, beating drums, bells, and trumpets. Much of the music is from an era long before my grandchildren. It's Sousa and Goodman, not Gaga and Underwood.
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| Sadee on Knoebels' Carousel, Summer 2019 |
One thing always draws the older ones back to the Carousel after they get their fill of hair-raising coasters: grabbing the rings.
To grab the brass rings, they have to sit on the outside rim of the merry-go-round. When the ride begins, a metal arm starts to dispense brass rings. The rider hopes the rise and fall of his horse will coincide with reaching the ring dispenser. There's a significant physical stretch involved as they lean precipitously off their horses. Sometimes they can grab the rings, and sometimes they grab air. The game is to see who can grab the largest number of rings. I've given up the reach for rings ... too many variables that might leave me in an embarrassing position on the floor.
Every year when I choose my horse and begin the musical loops, I think about the metaphor of this classic amusement ride. For what rings am I reaching? Am I trying to give my life significance by grabbing for all kinds of rings?
Grabbing the brass ring is a cultural goal in America. We are on our horses and striving - for a bigger house, a second house, money, possessions, vacations, wardrobes, "bucket-list" experiences. Success is gauged by the rings we have accumulated. Grab what you can while still riding high. Don't fall off the merry-go-round. Aim to get more rings than the other game players.
Those rings we've grabbed - are they an indicator of our significance, our purposeful lives, or our lasting satisfaction?
Exhausting. Fleeting. We're spinning endlessly, loop after loop of striving to put value in and on our lives. When in reality, it's all pretty temporary, a blink of the eye, passing pleasure, impermanence.
Is there one, true brass ring for which we should be grabbing?
The Bible is clear - a relationship with the One True and Living God is the brass ring. Believe His promises. Abide daily in Him. Look to the good of others. Walk this life with His desires as the goal of our lives. This is eternity-lasting, untarnishable, brass solid significance.
Life's Grand Carousel of endless circling and grabbing can leave us empty and wanting. God's plan is for our eternal good, not for a temporary pacifier and amusement, a plan that will take us off the dizzying treadmill and galloping into personal fulfillment.
Grabbing the brass ring is a cultural goal in America. We are on our horses and striving - for a bigger house, a second house, money, possessions, vacations, wardrobes, "bucket-list" experiences. Success is gauged by the rings we have accumulated. Grab what you can while still riding high. Don't fall off the merry-go-round. Aim to get more rings than the other game players.
Those rings we've grabbed - are they an indicator of our significance, our purposeful lives, or our lasting satisfaction?
Is there one, true brass ring for which we should be grabbing?
The Bible is clear - a relationship with the One True and Living God is the brass ring. Believe His promises. Abide daily in Him. Look to the good of others. Walk this life with His desires as the goal of our lives. This is eternity-lasting, untarnishable, brass solid significance.
Life's Grand Carousel of endless circling and grabbing can leave us empty and wanting. God's plan is for our eternal good, not for a temporary pacifier and amusement, a plan that will take us off the dizzying treadmill and galloping into personal fulfillment.
Grab for God's Brass Ring !
"Don't work for what spoils, but for what endures to eternal life, which Jesus gives ... Believe in the One God has sent." (Paraphrase John 6:27-29)
This is God's Brass Ring.
"Don't work for what spoils, but for what endures to eternal life, which Jesus gives ... Believe in the One God has sent." (Paraphrase John 6:27-29)
This is God's Brass Ring.
