In Kent, England, you can go to “Digger World,” and enjoy and even reenact your favorite parts of the Bob The Builder show and books. Or if you prefer a Buddhist-themed amusement park, you might try Suoi Tien Park in Vietnam–complete with waterfalls coming out a sage’s beard or an aerial bicycle ride over a lake filled with 1,500 crocodiles. What fun! If in the Baltic region, try “Stalin World.” This is Lithuania’s attempt to remind people of the dark days of Communism. You can even be interrogated by a KGB officer and wear a gas mask! America is not exempt from eclectic amusement parks, as New York’s Coney Island that perhaps enjoyed its heydays in the heart of the 20th Century. Freak shows and side shows aplenty give Coney Island its offbeat reputation (information from travel.yahoo.com).
People find the strangest things to amuse themselves. Back in the period of the Judges, the Philistines found a deadly means of “amusing themselves.” It was the Samson Show they all came out to see, the last thing 3,000 of them ever witnessed. Do you ever wonder what they tried to get Samson to do or why they thought that trotting out the formerly strong, now blinded judge would be amusing? Their amusement became their annihilation (see Judges 16:25-30).
God created us intelligent beings, and with that endowed us with creativity, inquisitiveness, aesthetic appreciation, ingenuity, and the like. Put another way, we often enjoy being amused. It might be a funny comedian or movie, a hobby, books and literature, or any number of similar things. Amusement can be a great way to cope with the often painful realities of life.
Yet, let us keep something in mind about the ways we amuse ourselves. God has guidelines that govern such things. Beware any amusements that pander to the lusts of the flesh and detract from our cultivation of the fruit of the Spirit (cf. Gal. 5:19-23). If we are amused by the sinful, the smutty, and the suggestive things of life, we are setting ourselves up for a more terrible end than that experienced by Samson’s tormentors. There is nothing in the world worth our embracing it to the loss of our own soul (cf. Matt. 16:26). Enjoy life! Have fun! But avoid anything that will drive a wedge between you and God because that’s not funny!
Coney Island Poll: Have you ever visited Coney Island?
Neal Pollard