The Great Reality

One of the great illusionists of all time, David Copperfield, has been dazzling people for decades with visuals that appear real but are actually intricate illusions that defy reality and logic. To watch and experience the illusion in person is to believe through your senses that what you are experiencing is actually true even though your mind logically says otherwise.

Many believe that one of his greatest illusions is the “Portal” in which he transports himself and another person to Hawaii from onstage thousands of miles away. In this illusion he reunites an estranged father and his son by taking the son to Hawaii. Check it out:

http://www.noob.us/entertainment/david-copperfields-best-illusion-portal/

Copperfield’s flare for the dramatic mixed with powerful storytelling transport the viewer into a world of reality that is actually illusionary. Our emotions and eyes mask the real so that the illusion becomes truth. In the Christian world our senses and emotions are many times captivated by illusions that distort our perspective of the Christian life and its disciplines.

Christian disciplines have a specific purpose and plan for believers but that reality becomes blurred by the illusions of the visual and emotional. As a result we actually believe that prayer, fasting, meditation, and other spiritual disciplines are spiritual auditions for God’s acceptance based on personal performance. Reality has been distorted or avoided and sin management becomes the norm. The reality of the God-life is performance in trying to win God’s approval.

Others have approached everyday life through the windows of individualism, consumerism, and other hidden worldviews that have distorted personal realities of life as God intended. Christians have been infected by the viruses of this culture and age that have created an illusionary pseudo-reality. These powerful influences have masked the God-life as God intended and replaced it with a self-life that is baptized with the contemporary pull of culture.

The genuine purpose of the spiritual disciplines is simply to rid the Christian of all such illusions. To walk backstage with Copperfield and his team is to genuinely see the reality of how the illusion of the “Portal” was created. That moment becomes an “Aha!” flash of discovery that jars our thought, emotions, and logic into understanding the truth.

For the Christian genuine reality is seeing and experiencing the presence of God in all of life. Richard Rohr (2003) stated it this way:

“All spiritual disciplines have one purpose: to get rid of illusions so we can be present. These disciplines exist so that we can see what is, see who we are, and see what is happening. On the contrary, our mass cultural trance is like scales over our eyes. We see only with the material eye.” (p. 31)

Spirituality is about seeing and cultivating the mind to see beyond the illusions created by our culture to the reality of God and his presence. In a sense the spiritual disciplines take us backstage to see reality of God.

Paul said it this way in the Bible, “If anyone is in Christ…a new creation!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The new creation is not our personal regeneration but that “Aha!” moment of seeing the reality of life through the presence of God. This is accomplished through a change in mind or perspective that is propelled by the spiritual disciplines.

The great illusion then becomes the great reality…we see and experience God’s presence in our lives in the past, present, and future.

Welcome to backstage reality!

Rohr, R. (2003). Everything belongs: The gift of contemplative prayer. New York: NY. The Crossroad Publishing Company.

Signs

"You have to ask yourself what kind of person are you. Are you the kind that sees signs, sees miracles...or do you believe that people just get lucky. Is it possible that there are no coincidences?"

Former Episcopal priest, Graham Hess had lost his faith in God through the tragic death of his wife. His family was dealing with a number of personal issues and life seemed to be hitting a wall. Then to make matters worse, the crop signs appeared.

The the film, Signs, from M. Night Shyamalan in 2002, seems to focus on invading aliens and their attempt to invade planet earth to harvest humans for food. Sounds like your typical sci-fi film right? But actually this movie centers around Graham and his faith that there is a God and that God personally has his hands on even the most inconsequential of our lives.

The same tension enters into our own daily journey as well. We don't need aliens to push us to the brink of our beliefs, but we do have layoffs, cancer, bill collectors, hurricanes, and divorce. In the midst of it all we begin to wonder if life is all about luck and coincidence. Where are the signs that God cares for ME?

On the surface, Graham's life was overrun with what seemed like inconsequential problems. He lived on his farm in Pennsylvania with his two children and brother: His son, Rory, who suffers from asthma, his daughter Bo who has a fetish about drinking only partial glasses of water, and his brother Merrill who is a former minor league baseball player. He holds the record for the longest home run ever in the minor leagues and hangs the cherished bat in a place of honor in the living room of his brother's house. And then there is Graham who suffers from doubt and hatred toward a God that took his wife away. Graham talked to his wife when she tragically died after being hit by a car. Just before she died she tells Merrill to "Swing away." Each of these circumstances seem unrelated and problematic in their own way. They do not make any sense. They each are mysteries that feed a coincidental and skeptical worldview.

Yet in the film's final dramatic conclusion each one of these prove significant in a confrontation with an alien in their house. Each sign plays a part in defeating the alien who is about to kill Morgan with poisonous gas (see the clip from You Tube below).

I am always intrigued with science fiction movies that have suspense and subplots that matter. As one of my favorites, Signs asks the same questions to us today as we daily face living the Godlife. Is God really involved in my life? What are the signs of his touch? Where are you God?

Awareness is developing a keen sensitivity to the fact that God is with us at all times. When we are looking for them, the signs of his touch are unmistakable. We may view challenges and disasters and struggles with questioning and doubt. But when we look closer, every half glass of water, asthma attack, car accident, and forgotten award mean something because God uses it all in the shaping of our personhood. While we may not always understand the meaning or how it all fits, God still wants us to trust him even when the signs are a mystery.

"In God's reign everything belongs" (Rohr, 2003).

There are no coincidences.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY_LBAVWRMU