God the magician
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- Published on Thursday, 16 February 2012 07:10
- Written by John Draper
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Kids love magic. Have you ever seen kids at a show put on by a magician? They don't ask "how was it done?" like an adult - they just love it. They also love Santa Claus - they seem to be not sure what to make of the Santas in the mall but they don't question him. Likewise, they like the tooth fairy and the Easter bunny - some are a bit unsure but they don't want to question anything for fear it will go away. I still remember some instances from when I was about 5 - I imagined that I would be given magical powers somehow. In retrospect, I probably believed I could pray for and get magical powers. I don't know what I would do with them (the powers) but I just loved the idea of magic. (I later turned this "love" into a "love" of Science Fiction.) I'd bet you big bucks that most kids have some kind of fascination with magic. Tell a kid almost anything and he/she will believe it. That fits with the idea of Santa and magic. With that starting point and foundation, it's no wonder that as kids become adults, they graduate to the ultimate adult magician, God.
God is a magician who can read minds, do anything, create anything and do it all in a way that no-one understands or even tries to understand. But really, he is a just an enhanced Santa Claus who decides if we are "naughty or nice" and hands out rewards. Adults also like the idea of punishment for bad deeds and like to have better relationship than a visit once a year - so at least one of the versions of God will fit your needs.
Most kids don't get to choose which version of god, they get the one their parents impose, like it or not. But almost any god will satisfy your fascination with magic and make it seem more credible than a guy who arrives via a chimney or leaves money under your pillow. Like most adult magicians, god has an assistant - actually many of them. They are called priests, ministers, pastors, rabbis and imams. They are like straight men - they don't perform magic, just make the magic more acceptable.
Of course the ultimate magic trick is a miracle. These seemed to be common in the time of Jesus - was that because people were more gullible? I loved the video by Rowan Atkinson where he talks about the miracle of Cana - that's where Jesus turned water into wine. The servants in the household were impressed and asked: "Do you do children's parties?" ( But watch the video here).
A few parlour tricks should not convince adults that an entity was god - you'd need to do something that broke a law of nature or two to do that (e.g. re-arrange a mountain or two). But magic tickles the imagination - it's hard to dislike a magician although there are tales of evil sorcerers. But there's a religious answer to that - they are called devils , fallen angels or simply Satan. You then end up with battles between good and bad magicians. Great stuff to tickle the imagination! They should make a movie about it - Oh, but they have - quite a few in fact.
I wonder if my speculation here would be called blasphemy? I'm certainly being disrespectful and making fun of God - or should I say gods? Funny, God has not yet struck me dead.
perhaps God (pick one) wants to see just how bad you can get before doling out a suitable measure of reward. If you're up to it, go for broke and really show 'em the depth of your convictions. What have you to lose?
You know, it's funny that even though my personal views do not allow for the existence, at some level, of a God, but I still feel a twinge of the mildest form of what one would call guilt, when I say or do something that most believers would call irreverent.
As a child, and into an early stage of adolescence, I wanted Santa to be that little piece of magic, that unbelievable something that allowed for an innocent imagination to remain just that. It was the beginning of becoming cynical, the day I finally acknowledged that my imagination was just not powerful or courageous enough to continue the dream. That cynicism has blossomed into many areas of life and made the world a lot less exciting to experience on a close personal level.
Childhood conditioning is a difficult mantle to shuck and discard absolutely.
All this only goes to show myself that I am, perhaps, a fraud when it comes to what I think as compared to what I would like to be thinking. It is still a journey that remains unfinished, for now.