The Greatest Show on Earth

It's been about a month now that Amanda, the kids, and me moved over to Knoxville. Despite it being a tough decision to move with the distance now between family, friends, church, and the great land that makes up the Upper Cumberland, Amanda and I both feel like it was good decision.

Obviously, one of the perks of moving from a small, rural town to a larger city is that you get a wider variety of things of which to be exposed. For instance, Knoxville has a great Greenway trail. It also has a great view of the Smokey Mountains from almost anywhere in the city which means proximity to the Park and to Beech, Sugar, and Cataloochie for skiing (if and when it snows)! There's also a variety of dining, shopping, sporting events, and education. The number and variety of churches here is pretty amazing here too.

As I mentioned before, along with variety comes proximity. We no longer have to drive an hour and a half to see a show we might want to see. Case in point, the circus. It was in town over the weekend and we took the opportunity to take the kids and one of our nieces. It was a lot of fun. WB&BN would still make P.T. Barnum proud (and I say that like I know the old boss).

It's been billed as, "The Greatest Show on Earth," and people still come from miles around to see what kind of "magic" the performers and animals will create. The only disappointing comment I heard was from an older spectator who complained that there were no lions! Oh well. There was a guy who let the Clown drive a Jeep loaded with people over him! That's right! Drove it over him!

People came eagerly - expecting to see something. There was a woman like that in the Bible. She had a nasty medical issue for most of her adult life and all she wanted was to be healed. So she went doctor to doctor trying to get healed. It wasn't until she approached The Greatest Show on Earth - Jesus - in the midst of a crowd that she really began to fully understand how great He really was. She just touched his garment and was made whole.

How many of us are willing to do that? Press in despite the mob? Press in knowing that his power will overwhelm us? Press in despite the inadequacies in every area of our lives - the ones we try to hide as well as the ones that are easily exposed?

One of the coolest things I saw at the circus this time was the acrobat who walked upside down 100 or more feet off the ground ... with no safety net ... just sticking his feet in some contraption that was loops hanging from the scaffolding. Amazing!

Jesus is like that ... amazing? He does that which is breathtaking! He does that which is well worth the price paid!