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By Barry Buzza
 At the grand opening of Disney World in Orlando, Florida, a reporter was standing beside Mrs. Disney. Lamenting his death before the completion of the gigantic theme park, the man remarked, "It's too bad Walt never got to see this day!"
She replied, "He did see it-that's why it's here today!"
Walt Disney, creator of Tomorrowland, was a man with vision. He was a man, who understood the value of looking beyond what he could see with his physical eyes, to see what was to come in the years ahead.
Our Creator's intention for all of us is to do the same. The ancient writer Habakkuk was having difficulty reconciling God's promises of peace and prosperity with the reality he was seeing all around him. He complained in his prayers about crime, violence, injustice and the fact that God seemed distant and uninvolved.
Following his honest review of a litany of troubles and heartbreak from the daily news, God answered him. He explained that there really is a plan in the universe; most of our world problems come from our human tendency to ignore our Creator's counsel. It's as if we had been instructed how to reach a certain destination, but we'd ignored our guide's advice and tried to make our own way where there was no road. The problems we'd encounter along the way would simply have been the result of walking the wrong way.
Habakkuk's Creator then said to him, "Look beyond what you can see now. Write the vision down, so that the one who follows you can read it, and run with it. The vision has a date on it-there is a goal which will be reached. Don't worry about the seeming delay or the circuitous route. It will come!"
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November 22/2007
I was reading an article in Outside magazine, written by Tim Etchells, about what he calls "tree skiing". The attached pictures made me wonder why anyone would attempt such a seemingly dangerous sport of racing over the snow through a grove of trees. It looked to me like a death wish, but some skiers love the risk of skiing virgin powder between the aspen or spruce trees. The author laid out a challenge, stating that the key is, of course, not to run into the trees!
Even more so than in deep snow or moguls, what you focus your eyes on becomes critical in the woods. "Look at the spaces between the trees-the exits where you hope to be traveling, Don't stare at what you don't want to hit", says extreme skiing world champion Kim Reichelm.
I'll write more on the subject of vision next week, but for now here are three considerations when we're thinking of vision. Number one is that we must give first place to listening to positive influencers. If we concentrate on what we hear from the doomsayers, we'll lock ourselves in our homes, shut the blinds and never venture beyond our protective walls. I like to hear what my Creator says-I trust him more than what I see and hear around me.
Number two is to set your sights on what you can envision with your God-given imagination-not fluffy dreams, but the real possibilities beyond today. And lastly, don't focus on the trees. There's lots of them to distract you; but rather look at the spaces between the trees-that exist where you hope to be traveling.
Barry Buzza, a veteran pastor, is also the president of the The Foursquare Gospel Church of Canada. www.foursquare.ca
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