It must have been the magic in the air that caused me to think of spiritual matters while waiting to ride the legendary Space Mountain at Disney World.
As background, you need to know that the dalai lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, is not an inherited position like a monarch. Neither are prospects weighed according to their credentials, as in the election of the pope. The next dalai lama is simply a boy, like anyone else, and goes about his early life in ignorance regarding his eventual calling. Senior Tibetan monks identify the next incarnation of their leader through oracles, visions, prayers and rituals.
Maybe roller coasters?
What if the next dalai lama visited Disney World? What if he was there in line with me, waiting to board Space Mountain?
I looked over the children. There was one especially excited kid giving strangers enthusiastic high-fives! An unmistakable charisma to that boy.
I noticed another child taking deep breaths with his eyes closed. He appeared Zen-like to me.
Or, maybe the dalai lama was the little dude with his face buried in his mama’s leg. Maybe a true spiritual leader is not always calm, but aware of his vulnerability and fears.
Who’s to say that the next incarnation of the spiritual leader wasn’t the little one whining about the wait?
“How much longer?”
“Probably 20 minutes,” his dad replied.
“That is like forever!”
He knew that time is relative!
One thing is certain — I am not the next dalai lama. But imagining who might be did cause me to look at my fellow Disney patrons in a different light. To view others with more curiosity, empathy and compassion. This seems like a good spiritual lesson for all of us.
For the record, I decided that, if the dalai lama was in that particular line, he was most likely to be the kid surreptitiously eating a bag of Cheetos, one at a time. He was savoring each bite, including licking the orange off his fingertips. That dude knew how to be in the moment.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the pastor of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church. His newly-published book is a collection of his columns for the Chatham News + Record titled “Hope Matters: Churchless Sermons.”