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:
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:
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.
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