My friend tells me of a conversation he recently had with a notable theologian who is nearing the end of his life. The man explains that he heard from a colleague something that helps to explain what life is all about. He recounts how he heard it said that life is indeed like a roller coaster with all its terror of sharp turns, dark tunnels, chilling drops, and disorienting loops. But at the end of the ride, as you come to this screeching halt and the bar holding you in raises up, the attendant always asks the same question:
“Did you enjoy the ride?”
The theologian said to my friend that heaven might be like that—where he imagines seeing Jesus for the first time and the Lord asking with a smile on His face about his life. He’d ask, “Did you enjoy the ride?”
I smiled and laughed when I heard that thought. I even wondered if Jesus and I might talk about it. He might say, “I know it was awfully scary and those drops were terrible, but wasn’t it fun?”
As I child, I loved roller coasters. One of my favorite memories with my dad involves the Saturday as an 11 year-old when we rode the famous Shockwave stand-up roller coaster at Kings Dominion in Virginia back in 1986. That year it opened, the wait for this terrifying ride was over two and a half hours long, and in the years it operated before closing in 2015, over 22 million people had ridden it. I still remember the thrill of it as I stood up and the bars came down on my shoulders. What a ride! My dad and I looped 360 degrees and sped (according to the advertisement about the Shockwave) through “a 540-degree helix that angled riders virtually parallel with the ground – all while standing up!” I couldn’t believe we were that brave.
I’ve been on so many truly terrifying roller coasters. I’d nearly start crying on some, but at the end, the attendant would say, “Did you enjoy the ride?” and I’d race back to the line to ride the whole fearful coaster again. I remember that proud feeling and the adrenalin. I remember the joyful fear of it all.
Why? Why did I—and so many others—love this awful thing? I learned in my PhD studies about the philosophy of the sublime and how we crave situations that fuse fear with wonder. And we can marvel and enjoy something that scares us in a sublime moment because we love to experience terror from a position of safety.
We enjoy the ride because we’re not in any real danger after all.
The Engineer’s design means we stay on the track, even when life feels up-side down and too fast to handle. The ride becomes more fun when we know we’re safe—which is why riding with my dad next to me made all the difference.
Oh, life—with its terrible drops and sharp turns! I think of the roller coaster design and the One riding beside me. Did I enjoy the ride? Whatever happens today, it’s part of the ride He designed for me.