Our Visit to the 2014 Candlelight Processional at Epcot

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”My favorite of all of the Christmas activities at Walt Disney World Resort is attending the Candlelight Processional. I have lost count of how many times we have attended this celebration of the birth of Jesus but it is always wonderful. This year we had the pleasure of seeing LeVar Burton narrate Candlelight Processional. He mentioned that he hadn’t been a part of this event for 10 years and that he was very excited to be back. LeVar did a wonderful job narrating and I loved how excited he got, sharing the excitement of Jesus’ birth with the packed house at the American Garden Theater at Epcot.

When LeVar was announced and his biggest accomplishments were read-Kunta Kinte in Roots, Geordi in Star Trek:The Next Generation and host of Reading Rainbow, it was Reading Rainbow that got the most applause and cheers! That made my heart soar because he has done so much to promote literacy in our country that I was happy the audience acknowledged that work.

My favorite of all the songs in the Candlelight Processional is “Rejoice with Exceeding Great Joy!”

Unfortunately, for the last 2 years the poem “One Solitary Life” by Dr James Allen Francis has been missing from the performance. This is sad because it sums up the life and power of Jesus so simply and it fit seamlessly into the production. Supposedly it was cut due to time but the show is about the same length as it always has been. I have included it here, so that you won’t miss it.

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village
The child of a peasant woman
He grew up in another obscure village
Where he worked in a carpenter shop
Until he was thirty when public opinion turned against him

He never wrote a book
He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never travelled more than two hundred miles
From the place where he was born
He did none of the things
Usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself

He was only thirty three

His friends ran away
One of them denied him
He was turned over to his enemies
And went through the mockery of a trial
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves
While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing
The only property he had on earth

When he was dead
He was laid in a borrowed grave
Through the pity of a friend

Nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race
And the leader of mankind’s progress
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life

If you ever get to with Walt Disney World during the holiday season, I hope you have the opportunity to attend the Candlelight Processional. It is truly amazing and singing in this production is a bucket list item for me. I’m not sure how it could happen at this stage in my life but I still dream about it.