Illumination

Of all the nightly displays of fireworks at the Disney parks, the clear favorite in my book is the one put on by EPCOT. IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. The presentation has been known to bring grown men to tears, and I am certainly no exception. Combining a powerful display of story, music and pyrotechnics, IllumiNations somehow manages to breach all defenses with a literal and figurative light straight into the courts of the heart.

As I once said, music has the power to reach deep into the soul and express those mysteries for which there simply are no words. Yet the music alone cannot explain the impact of this show. And while the fireworks are brilliant, they too do not singly spear the heart and enlighten the mind. It is something more than the words of the story narration that I suspect few ever really remember. Rather, the combination of these elements within an atmosphere of watchful anticipation brings our experience of these precious minutes into an almost symphonic focus. Words and thought can only get in the way of this purely sensory experience. Indeed, I know my own attempts are woefully inadequate. Yet I am compelled.

Sentry flames alight around the circumference of the lagoon, heralding the moment of gathering. Ripples of light dance across the surface of the water, pulling the senses into a brief period of inner calm just before flares announce the opening downbeat. Sights and sounds take over the intellectual function, the gathered masses transforming from sentients of thought into creatures of being. Kaleidoscopic fountains of water in the midst of the lagoon dance lightly in time even as a billowing inferno erupts with raw, destructive but somehow alluring power. Intense light and incredible heat buffets the body in waves, yet to turn away is impossible. Fire, (such fire!) alights the eyes and quickens the breath. Laser lights fill the sky, and rockets from right beneath the feet launch on a rising trajectory across the way leaving glittering entrails across the sky.

From the chaos of free, unbroken spirit comes a soaring song. This universal melody speaks of a world united, not by government, but by the miracle of creation itself. Humanity's wonderful achievements cannot match the single most astounding accomplishment of all, one for which we can make no claim: life. Order was introduced by a word spoken by a Creator, a word men can accept or reject, but cannot author. This soaring song crescendos to a climax, when intensely bright lights pierce the eyes in exhilarating triumph.

The dramatic conclusion brings the height of emotion to the surface, the applause rings out from the vast circle of unseen humanity across the newly darkened waves. The lights return, the Reflections without suddenly revert to reflection within, as I catch my breath, wipe my face and wonder just what it is we have collectively experienced. No bright light, no amount of ale can explain why the eyes of grown men water uncontrollably. Slowly, the presence of my children bring me back to the present reality. But the meaning of the moment doesn't fade entirely, as a glance across the lagoon horizon gives way to the moon rising over Mexico.

Illumination? Perhaps for a moment. But the briefest spark of illumination can ignite the innermost dreams and passions and understanding that drive us onward, upward to the present that awaits us. And understanding is key. For despite the foolish hope of temporal utopia, wisdom comes when we acknowledge the unending war between chaos and order and learn to see that until eternity arrives, we will always - and most desperately - yearn for inner meaning and those blinding, fleeting moments of illumination. And for this perhaps, we cry.