Today we just dropped into a small exhibition and lazed around the stalls. It also had plenty of games and there was a Magic Show in one corner. The show was brilliant – about 20 minutes of eye-candy that left you baffled. The magician had just a rickety stage and curtains and a squeaky music system but pulled off the tricks really well. And to top it all the entrance fee was just 10 rupees (25 cents!!).
I was also impressed with what he said at the start of the show.
“Magic is an art – like cinema, music and painting. Its not a mantra”.
Mantra is an Indian word which denotes a supernatural occurrence. Even in modern society people believe in ‘Godmen’ who simply do magic and give them a lot of importance. Most of these tricks are what can be performed by magicians.
So where do Christians stand? I believe in Miracles – and I believe that all credit needs to be given only to God for that and that every miracle brings you closer to God. Christians who avidly seek out ‘persons’ who will prophecy or perform healing just to get personal benefit are no different from others seeking out Godmen who perform tricks. Yes, God does perform miracles and some of them through his disciples. But the attention needs to be on God – not on human acts!
I’ll wind up this blog entry with a link to a magic trick we saw today.
Click here to see the magician perform a rope knot trick – purely for entertainment!