McWane Center

Last weekend I took the kids to the McWane Center and to be honest, it's not my most favorite thing to do.  It really is crowded and all the activities kind of freak me out.    I wish I could post some pictures of the kids enjoying themselves.  It was good to see them interact with all the experiments.  The best one was the bubble station.  They actually got to stand inside a bubble. 

But as we were leaving the one thing at the McWane Center that captivated them was Vulcan's Dream Machine.   A wonder of sound, color, and movement, this intricate contraption is a great example of a compound machine. Made of many simple devices like levers, inclined planes, wedges, pulleys, screws, wheels, and axles.  It really is amazing.

As I was watching Noah in a trance from the continuous motion of the steel balls moving through obstacles, winding tracks, up hills, down hills and drops, I couldn't help but think how this is how this is similar to life. 

I have been really thinking about life and death since Dad passed away.  And, as you have read, Sunday's are not the best day for me.  This particular Sunday, once again as I am watching this machine, it made me think how it resembles life. 

It starts suddenly, kind of like birth.  The ball drops into position to begin it's journey.  The track holds the ball steady and guides it along the path. Which made me think of how parents teach their children the basics of life, how to talk, walk, trust, love, etc. and how to guide them though their young lives. As the ball moves, it picks up speed and works it's way through a series of obstacles.  There are turns, drops, hills and barricades.  There are even parts of the machine that helps carry the ball onto the next path.  The ball sometimes assists other balls along the path.  Then as it embarks on the last section, the ball suddenly stops, death.  However, the ball pauses, then with a jolt, it drops!  The journey begins, again.

This is life.  A journey of obstacles.  There are people in one's life who is steady, strong, reliable.  There people you love, people who you you, people you trust, people who guide, as well as ones that make you hate, make you angry, make you sad.  There are times in life when you are cruising down hill and everything is smooth sailing.  At other times, everything is up hill, a daily struggle to just make it through the day.  Whether it is spiritually, emotionally, or financially, there are up hill moments.

Just as the ball has assistance of the conveyor belt.  There are people along the way to help carry us through difficult times.  We all depend on the people we love, the people we depend on, the people we trust, the people who will help during difficult times.  And at times, it is all down hill, just moving along with nothing standing in our way.

There is the aspect of speed.  How quickly time passes.  How quickly we grow from childhood, to young adult, to adult, to middle age, to elderly.  Which is the last part of the journey in which one grows.  But unlike the machine at the McWane center, once the ball stops, there is no sudden jolt to begin the journey all over again.  It just stops.