Thursday, 13 March 2014
Thursday, 6 March 2014
Jesus in our hearts
Have you ever thought of teaching children the message of scripture in an interesting and exciting way? Gospel Magic does just that! Watch these two videos as an example of what Gospel Magic can look like.
This first video is a visual representation of 1st Corinthians 13. The presentation is directed to adults.
This second video is a children's talk that I gave at the Anglican Parish of Holy Cross. It is a typical Gospel Magic presentation to children. It involves a very visual message with lots of silliness!
This first video is a visual representation of 1st Corinthians 13. The presentation is directed to adults.
This second video is a children's talk that I gave at the Anglican Parish of Holy Cross. It is a typical Gospel Magic presentation to children. It involves a very visual message with lots of silliness!
Tickle Pickles
My family and I were shopping in Costco the other day. As usual, my son presented the receipt to the employee standing by the door. We have learned that it is their custom to draw a happy face on the back of the receipt for all the young children who pass by. My son held up the receipt and with excitement in his voice, asked for a happy face.
Grinning widely, the employee asked my son ‘Now, what’s the magic word?” Dutifully, my son responded “Tickle Pickles!”
You are probably wondering what the phrase ‘Tickle Pickles’ is all about. It is the phrase that I use when I do magic tricks for my son and the children in his class. It is the phrase spoken just before the magical effect takes place. As my son has seen me do magic tricks countless times, he has thus become quite familiar with these words. In fact for him, there is no “Abracadabra”, or “Alakazaam”; and “Please” is no so much a magic word as it is a matter of respect and politeness.
Now, I never set out to make “Tickle Pickles” exclusively the magic words for my son. It was never my intention to form him in this manner. But nonetheless, the model that I have provided for him has lead to this result. The fact that he has seen me utter this phrase time and time again has completely influenced and formed his understanding of magic words.
This event got me thinking: what other messages have my son picked up? We live in a culture where there is a constant barrage of images and slogans which carry specifically crafted messages designed to influence our thoughts, perceptions and behaviours. These aren’t just reserved for the traditional advertising mediums of commercials and magazine spreads. Now-a-days, product placement in major motion pictures is constant, advertisers influence the dialogue that occurs in major network television programs, and celebrities are paid to endorse certain products through their social media outlets.
But the messages that flow through media are not solely product based. There is the subtle endorsement that image equals success. Individualism is prized over community as fewer and fewer television shows portray healthy and supportive friendships. Hosts of physically and emotionally destructive behaviors occur without thought consequence. There are messages all around us, and just like ‘Tickle Pickles’ my son is naturally tuned in.
But here is the good news. As large and as forceful as media may be, a child’s parents are still the number one influence on their life. All is not lost. Moms and Dads, Grandma’s and Grandpa’s, Aunts and Uncles still have an unconquered role to play. How we live our lives before others speaks volumes to the people, young and old, who are watching us.
This is quite the opportunity for us who are called to live faithfully in this world. How is grace modeled n our lives? What does it mean to model faithful behavior in the context of work, school, and social life? How does our relationship with Jesus influence how we perform the tasks of the day, interact with others, or speak to those around us? This is why Paul reminds us in the book of Ephesians to “‘be very careful how we live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity” (5:15). Our actions, our interactions, and our speech have a direct influence on how others perceive, God, Jesus, and the church. Our modeling of a life of faith has direct influence the faith development of another. This isn’t something that we control. This is not something that we are able to pick up and put down whenever we feel like it. It just is.
Our role as Christians in the wider community of the world, and as father, mothers, brothers, sisters and friends in the smaller community of our relationships is the same: We are called to be diligent and authentic in living out our faith. Because like it or not, people are watching; and in doing so they are learning about what a life faith is truly about.
How do you intentionally try to model your life of faith to those who are around you?
Grinning widely, the employee asked my son ‘Now, what’s the magic word?” Dutifully, my son responded “Tickle Pickles!”
You are probably wondering what the phrase ‘Tickle Pickles’ is all about. It is the phrase that I use when I do magic tricks for my son and the children in his class. It is the phrase spoken just before the magical effect takes place. As my son has seen me do magic tricks countless times, he has thus become quite familiar with these words. In fact for him, there is no “Abracadabra”, or “Alakazaam”; and “Please” is no so much a magic word as it is a matter of respect and politeness.
Now, I never set out to make “Tickle Pickles” exclusively the magic words for my son. It was never my intention to form him in this manner. But nonetheless, the model that I have provided for him has lead to this result. The fact that he has seen me utter this phrase time and time again has completely influenced and formed his understanding of magic words.
This event got me thinking: what other messages have my son picked up? We live in a culture where there is a constant barrage of images and slogans which carry specifically crafted messages designed to influence our thoughts, perceptions and behaviours. These aren’t just reserved for the traditional advertising mediums of commercials and magazine spreads. Now-a-days, product placement in major motion pictures is constant, advertisers influence the dialogue that occurs in major network television programs, and celebrities are paid to endorse certain products through their social media outlets.
But the messages that flow through media are not solely product based. There is the subtle endorsement that image equals success. Individualism is prized over community as fewer and fewer television shows portray healthy and supportive friendships. Hosts of physically and emotionally destructive behaviors occur without thought consequence. There are messages all around us, and just like ‘Tickle Pickles’ my son is naturally tuned in.
But here is the good news. As large and as forceful as media may be, a child’s parents are still the number one influence on their life. All is not lost. Moms and Dads, Grandma’s and Grandpa’s, Aunts and Uncles still have an unconquered role to play. How we live our lives before others speaks volumes to the people, young and old, who are watching us.
This is quite the opportunity for us who are called to live faithfully in this world. How is grace modeled n our lives? What does it mean to model faithful behavior in the context of work, school, and social life? How does our relationship with Jesus influence how we perform the tasks of the day, interact with others, or speak to those around us? This is why Paul reminds us in the book of Ephesians to “‘be very careful how we live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity” (5:15). Our actions, our interactions, and our speech have a direct influence on how others perceive, God, Jesus, and the church. Our modeling of a life of faith has direct influence the faith development of another. This isn’t something that we control. This is not something that we are able to pick up and put down whenever we feel like it. It just is.
Our role as Christians in the wider community of the world, and as father, mothers, brothers, sisters and friends in the smaller community of our relationships is the same: We are called to be diligent and authentic in living out our faith. Because like it or not, people are watching; and in doing so they are learning about what a life faith is truly about.
How do you intentionally try to model your life of faith to those who are around you?
The Magic of Rest
One of the hardest lessons for an amateur magician to learn is how to effectively include rest and non-action into the working of magical effect. The tendency is to rush through the moves and sleights in order reach the climax or revelation as quickly as possible. This cramming together of each move, without space in between, effectively robs the illusion its power and effectiveness.
For example, take a classic production trick, where an empty hand is seen to ‘magically’ produce a coin. Obviously there are skills and movements that must be learned and mastered in order to perform this effect. However the magic-creating moment actually occurs in the space between the action and the revelation. It is in the space, where the magician is motionless and the spectator silent where the trick truly lies. In this space of rest the magician and spectator join together in anticipating what will occur before them. The ability to stop and rest produces the space where both magician and spectator enter into the dynamic of the illusion.
Magicians, Musicians, Weight-lifters, they have all learned the necessity and importance of this space of rest and silence. Why is it so hard for us to cultivate this same sense of rest in our spiritual lives?
It can be easy for us to make our spiritual lives about the need to do more or try harder. We trick ourselves into thinking that rest equals laziness. Yet in this we condemn ourselves to struggling with underserved feelings of guilt and shame. Instead of understanding rest as a place in which we are invited to partake in something dynamic, we view it rather as a place of absence, a place of nothing, a place to be avoided. We become deaf to Christ call to ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” (Mark 6:31) Because of this we weigh ourselves down under the cry of pray more, give more, serve more, do more and be more. Yet without rest, our faith get’s lost in the over-abundance of activity. What is more, that one person, for whom we are to do all these actions, is left at the sideline of our activity, waiting for the moment where we may be able to stop and interact with him.
Yes the Christian life is a lived-out life, but this does not mean we move in an endless run from moment to moment. Rather our spiritual lives include those necessary times in which we are motionless and silent before the one who is truly greater than ourselves. The power of the Christian life is predicated on what happens here, in the place in which we stop, relax and rest in the dynamic presence of Sovereign Lord. Our faith breathes through the ability to take our focus off of ourselves and all the actions that we are engaged, and onto the one in whose presence is light and life. And, like the workings of any trick or illusion, the more activity we do the more we need those active, life-giving moments of stillness and rest.
How do you include rest and stillness in your life? What are the main things that often detract your from this discipline?
For example, take a classic production trick, where an empty hand is seen to ‘magically’ produce a coin. Obviously there are skills and movements that must be learned and mastered in order to perform this effect. However the magic-creating moment actually occurs in the space between the action and the revelation. It is in the space, where the magician is motionless and the spectator silent where the trick truly lies. In this space of rest the magician and spectator join together in anticipating what will occur before them. The ability to stop and rest produces the space where both magician and spectator enter into the dynamic of the illusion.
Magicians, Musicians, Weight-lifters, they have all learned the necessity and importance of this space of rest and silence. Why is it so hard for us to cultivate this same sense of rest in our spiritual lives?
It can be easy for us to make our spiritual lives about the need to do more or try harder. We trick ourselves into thinking that rest equals laziness. Yet in this we condemn ourselves to struggling with underserved feelings of guilt and shame. Instead of understanding rest as a place in which we are invited to partake in something dynamic, we view it rather as a place of absence, a place of nothing, a place to be avoided. We become deaf to Christ call to ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” (Mark 6:31) Because of this we weigh ourselves down under the cry of pray more, give more, serve more, do more and be more. Yet without rest, our faith get’s lost in the over-abundance of activity. What is more, that one person, for whom we are to do all these actions, is left at the sideline of our activity, waiting for the moment where we may be able to stop and interact with him.
Yes the Christian life is a lived-out life, but this does not mean we move in an endless run from moment to moment. Rather our spiritual lives include those necessary times in which we are motionless and silent before the one who is truly greater than ourselves. The power of the Christian life is predicated on what happens here, in the place in which we stop, relax and rest in the dynamic presence of Sovereign Lord. Our faith breathes through the ability to take our focus off of ourselves and all the actions that we are engaged, and onto the one in whose presence is light and life. And, like the workings of any trick or illusion, the more activity we do the more we need those active, life-giving moments of stillness and rest.
How do you include rest and stillness in your life? What are the main things that often detract your from this discipline?
The Magic of Simple
Do you want to know the secret to some of the best magic tricks? They may not be as difficult as they appear. Some of the most effective tricks are, in fact, incredibly simple and do not involve complex systems of strings and magnets, trap-doors and assistants. In fact sometimes it’s quite the opposite. Some of the most time-honoured of illusions involve nothing more than a simple handkerchief, or one borrowed coin, a deck of cards or one red sponge-ball.
One of the first tricks that I did for the children at Holy Cross involved a visual illustration of Jesus changing water into wine. Without disclosing the secret of the effect, allow me to say that this is a fairly easy routine. (You can watch the routine Here). Still, during coffee afterwards, many parishioners came to me with theories of how this effect worked. One would suggest that the solution was ‘a string, a tea bag, and a piece of cardboard!’ Another questioned the legitimacy of the water I used.
This dynamic occurs for all magicians. When engaging with a magic trick, people love to offer their theories of how the effect works, yet often the explanations offered are much more complicated than the reality; some are downright impossible. The secret for all magic tricks is this: the wonder and amazement that we find in the midst of an illusion lies not in its complexity or difficulty, but in its simplicity.
This isn’t to suggest that there is no complexity in magic. Of course there is, and by no means am I attempting to downplay the amount of time and practice that goes in to executing a good illusion. There are sleights and movements which take magicians years to master. Yet even in the places where complexity does occur, this principle still holds true. The complex movements of sleight of hand are not supposed to look complex. The magician does not telegraph the difficulty of the movements. The movement should not look arduous or tried. It should feel simple, free, and easy. Even in the more sophisticated routines, that do involve the classic elements of smoke and mirrors, the true skill of the magician lies in making it appear simple. In the end, the aim of the magician is to lead the spectator to a place of simple entertainment. The enjoyment of a magic trick only increases when both magician and spectator adopt a principle of simplicity.
I sometimes wonder if we make the things of God way too complicated. We try to develop an intricate theology that will explain every permutation and variable in the universe. Like the spectator to the magician, we develop intricate explanations for the ways in which God works in the world, often forgetting that doing this will only rob us of our wonderful enjoyment of God. I wonder, is this a search for explanation or a search for control? After all, if i can figure how the trick is done, then I am neither fooled nor left questioning. Furthermore, if I uncover the intricacy of a trick, it remains that I will be able to predict what will happen the next time that trick occurs.
Is the desire to define each and every movement of God an attempt to make God predictable?
Yet God is not in the game of being predictable. God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform, rings the old Gospel tune. There is, of course, complexity to the workings of God in the universe. I’m not suggested that God’s ways are by any means simple. There is a depth to the mind of God that finite minds will never penetrate. God ways, after all, are not our ways, his thoughts beyond our own. Yet there is a sense of simplicity as well. When God declares God’s love for us, it isn’t because we adhere to some intricate system of spiritual strings and magnates. God loves us because he has chosen to love us – it’s that simple. When God declares his forgiveness of sins, it is not up to us to ascertain the dynamics of ‘true repentance’; we are called to simply accept the forgiveness offered to us through the cross.
Like a spectator before a magician, our enjoyment of God’s ways in the world, and in our lives, only increases as we enter into the discipline of simplicity. Now, just as ones’ enjoyment of a magic trick that will naturally lead them to ponder how it could be done, we may ponder,meditate, and strive to know God’s ways. There is no harm to this; in fact we are called to do so. This endeavour, however, does not take away from the call to remain humble before the one who is greater than we are. We accept his presence; we accept his gifts; we follow his leading, and we do so knowing that the final production will be one of wonder and amazement. It is this act of unrestricted acceptance that leads us into joy and wonder. The full embracing of faith lies in simply receiving God’s presence as it occurs before us; it lies not in understanding all the ins and outs.
Simply receive. Simply accept. Simply enjoy.
What are some ways that you have tried to make your faith too complex? When and how have your learned the value of simplicity?
One of the first tricks that I did for the children at Holy Cross involved a visual illustration of Jesus changing water into wine. Without disclosing the secret of the effect, allow me to say that this is a fairly easy routine. (You can watch the routine Here). Still, during coffee afterwards, many parishioners came to me with theories of how this effect worked. One would suggest that the solution was ‘a string, a tea bag, and a piece of cardboard!’ Another questioned the legitimacy of the water I used.
This dynamic occurs for all magicians. When engaging with a magic trick, people love to offer their theories of how the effect works, yet often the explanations offered are much more complicated than the reality; some are downright impossible. The secret for all magic tricks is this: the wonder and amazement that we find in the midst of an illusion lies not in its complexity or difficulty, but in its simplicity.
This isn’t to suggest that there is no complexity in magic. Of course there is, and by no means am I attempting to downplay the amount of time and practice that goes in to executing a good illusion. There are sleights and movements which take magicians years to master. Yet even in the places where complexity does occur, this principle still holds true. The complex movements of sleight of hand are not supposed to look complex. The magician does not telegraph the difficulty of the movements. The movement should not look arduous or tried. It should feel simple, free, and easy. Even in the more sophisticated routines, that do involve the classic elements of smoke and mirrors, the true skill of the magician lies in making it appear simple. In the end, the aim of the magician is to lead the spectator to a place of simple entertainment. The enjoyment of a magic trick only increases when both magician and spectator adopt a principle of simplicity.
I sometimes wonder if we make the things of God way too complicated. We try to develop an intricate theology that will explain every permutation and variable in the universe. Like the spectator to the magician, we develop intricate explanations for the ways in which God works in the world, often forgetting that doing this will only rob us of our wonderful enjoyment of God. I wonder, is this a search for explanation or a search for control? After all, if i can figure how the trick is done, then I am neither fooled nor left questioning. Furthermore, if I uncover the intricacy of a trick, it remains that I will be able to predict what will happen the next time that trick occurs.
Is the desire to define each and every movement of God an attempt to make God predictable?
Yet God is not in the game of being predictable. God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform, rings the old Gospel tune. There is, of course, complexity to the workings of God in the universe. I’m not suggested that God’s ways are by any means simple. There is a depth to the mind of God that finite minds will never penetrate. God ways, after all, are not our ways, his thoughts beyond our own. Yet there is a sense of simplicity as well. When God declares God’s love for us, it isn’t because we adhere to some intricate system of spiritual strings and magnates. God loves us because he has chosen to love us – it’s that simple. When God declares his forgiveness of sins, it is not up to us to ascertain the dynamics of ‘true repentance’; we are called to simply accept the forgiveness offered to us through the cross.
Like a spectator before a magician, our enjoyment of God’s ways in the world, and in our lives, only increases as we enter into the discipline of simplicity. Now, just as ones’ enjoyment of a magic trick that will naturally lead them to ponder how it could be done, we may ponder,meditate, and strive to know God’s ways. There is no harm to this; in fact we are called to do so. This endeavour, however, does not take away from the call to remain humble before the one who is greater than we are. We accept his presence; we accept his gifts; we follow his leading, and we do so knowing that the final production will be one of wonder and amazement. It is this act of unrestricted acceptance that leads us into joy and wonder. The full embracing of faith lies in simply receiving God’s presence as it occurs before us; it lies not in understanding all the ins and outs.
Simply receive. Simply accept. Simply enjoy.
What are some ways that you have tried to make your faith too complex? When and how have your learned the value of simplicity?
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