Beech Tree News Network

In 1928, Walt Disney drew the character, Mickey Mouse—an idea he carried around in the back of his mind for some time—while on a train bound from New York to Hollywood.  If you get a chance to visit Disney World, you will discover what that one thought created.  The theme park is a multi-billion dollar business that employees thousands of people and entertains hundreds of thousands more.  Walt, himself, went on to say, “I hope we never lose sight of one thing, that it was all started by a mouse.”

I read once or heard once, I can’t remember which, that J.K. Rowling wrote the first lines of her block buster book, HARRY POTTER, on a napkin.  It was one thought about an orphaned boy who would grow up to defeat the forces of darkness.  She captured the thought then and there on what she had at hand—a napkin. 

Last week, my daughter, Natalie, my granddaughter, Sabria, and I visited Universal Studios in Orlando.  It was a short, three-day excursion with one major focus—to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  You know how people describe experiences like ours as like stepping into the movie?  Well, it wasn’t.  It was like stepping into the actual world of Harry Potter.

The creative minds that design and build those worlds are beyond what I can imagine.  We rode on an actual Hogwarts train, boarding on Platform 9 ¾.  It took us between Diagon Alley and Hogwarts Castle.  As we traveled, chocolate frogs jumped from the dining cart onto our carriage windows.  We watched out of the window as Hagrid flew by on his motorcycle and Fred and George Weasley set off fireworks. 

When we arrived at Hogwarts castle, we were greeted by talking portraits on the walls as we walked up the stairs.  We boarded a ride that plunged us into a Quidditch tournament,interrupted by Hagrid’s runaway dragon.  We drank Butter Beer—cream soda and butterscotch—in the town of Hogsmeade. We visited Olivanders Wand Shop, where we bought Sabria an interactive wand.

In Diagon Alley, we went to Fred and George Weasley’s tricks and practical joke shop, where we bought a duck on a bicycle and other unnecessary items.  We looked on as Sabria made an umbrella rain real rain drops and a small snowman twirl atop a cake with her interactive wand.  We felt the heat as the dragon atop Gringotts Bank came to life and breathed real fire, and I laughed as Sabria announced to me and the world that her mama had “screamed like a little girl” while sitting next to her on the ride, Escape From Gringotts.

On our last night there, we gathered with throngs of others to watch the lights at Hogwarts Castle.  The crests of the four houses—Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin—were projected onto the outer castle walls.  It was magnificent!  By the end of the night, we were so exhausted we could barely make it back to our motel. 

The next morning as we were waiting for the shuttle to take us to the airport, one thing kept running through my mind.  Everything we had seen over those past three days started with one thought.  One thought that was held onto and pushed forward and not let go of until it came to fruition.  I’ve always believed all of creation was born of one thought, “God…who calls into being that which does not exist.”  I also believe we are made in the image of God, and as such, we have been given the ability to create things that never before existed.  All it takes is one thought.