The Greatest Show

Frankly, I think Hugh Jackman said it best.

“And we know we can’t be go back again

To the world that we were living in

‘Cause we’re dreaming with our eyes wide open.”

…

I’m currently residing in Chicago with three of my squad mates (as pictured at the end), and while on our way to devour some authentic Chicago deep dish pizza last night, we listened to The Greatest Showman. (Naturally, since that movie has been bringing car karaoke to a new level since 2017.) While we had never met each other in person before, three zoom calls over the course of a few months proved that meeting each other in person was something we should arrange before leaving for Training Camp in late October. So just for funsies, Joshua Little, Zachary Johnson and I all converged and drove up to Illinois to meet Ericka Robinson at an Airbnb outside of Chicago. 

It was a cinematic moment: four friends, cruising through the streets of Chicago blaring music, singing our hearts out with the windows down, en route to dinner, listening to the Greatest Showman. And for some reason, “Come Alive” struck me.

“And we know we can’t be go back again

To the world that we were living in

‘Cause we’re dreaming with our eyes wide open.”

This weekend I got to experience so much of God’s goodness just by surrounding myself with people who had been involved with the World Race before. The day before we met in Chicago, a friend, the mother who introduced me to WR, invited me to her house to meet some World Race alumni and a couple other friends going on Gap Year. No one had met anyone, yet there was minimal silence. Questions about what to pack for the World Race, questions about what the new racers were hoping for on the World Race, discussions of crazy things God revealed during their time out on the field, talk of what states we were from and our families, stories of hardships and life lessons, playing Sorry! with the 10-year old… conversation flowed and laughter was ever-present.

As the night was winding down, we made our way to the foyer. 

“…that’s the amazing thing about the Body of Christ,” I overheard Katherine say, one of the Racers leaving for Gap Year this coming September, “it doesn’t matter where anyone comes from. We all have one thing in common and it unites us. Normally when we host non-believers, we find that there’s lots of silence because there’s not much to talk about. But even if we invite people over that don’t know each other and there’s still the common fact that we’re children of Christ. And I think that’s pretty cool.”

And she’s right. 

There’s something that we have as Christians that’s supposed to separate us from others. We’ve seen something greater. We experience the truest of Love and await for the most glorious form of living. And while there’s sin running rampant on Earth that we can grief over, we are still capable of finding joy in the things God intended for good. 

“And we know we can’t be go back again

To the world that we were living in

‘Cause we’re dreaming with our eyes wide open.”

Our dream should be to bring a little more light to the world. We’ve seen something greater. We’ve seen the power of God’s wrath, goodness and grace. There’s something fulfilling and real about what we’ve seen, so why would we go back to the world we were living in? That’s something that the World Race aims for, and from what I’ve seen already, it does so exceptionally. 

Am I excited to dream with my eyes wide open? Yes. Do I understand that there are definitely days where I will become too tired to care? Yes. And I pray that the apathy that comes regularly with exhaustion will lessen, if not completely disappear. But in the moments of talking with strangers on the train, loving our waitress, playing with the kids at the fountain, or getting cupcakes and watching fireworks with our newest friend, may we remember what we are on this earth for: Christ.

That, my friends, is the Greatest Show.