I had the occasion to be worshipping with a group of Friends via zoom. That is the way things are these days. More seems to happen online than in person. I can grump about this, but I am grateful to technology for making things possible. Otherwise, life is not a rich as it could be. Why not be grateful for all that we have. Sometimes I think our society is better at being grumpy than it is for being grateful.
The speaker of the morning did something I have never seen. He preached a sermon of sorts. But at the same time, he was doing magic tricks with ropes. The magic was quite good. Clearly, he is no magic rookie. For example, one trick was with three different size ropes. By the end, all the ropes were the same size. And then he undid it and the ropes went back to their original size. As with most magic tricks, I have no idea how he did it.
I know he was simultaneously speaking. There were some passages and references to particular scriptures, but I cannot remember any of them. A couple times I was aware he was talking about some core beliefs of most Christians, but I was not keyed into what he was saying. And I guess that is the problem I have with this approach. I was amazed by the magic and have no clue what he said. Maybe others were able to do both, but I failed. But my experience caused me to reflect.
Effectively, the speaker was asking us to multitask. Like most folks, I think I am pretty good at multitasking. Ask most people and you will find a confident affirmation that they are good. But all the scientific studies I know disagree. They say it is literally not possible to multitask. Now I know you can walk and talk on the phone at the same time. I have seen countless folks do it. But walking is habitual. Once we are moving, we don’t have to think about it. And yet, if something approaches that causes us to notice, we shift attention to our walking. And the conversation we are having on the phone is done mindlessly. We likely don’t think we were mindless, but we are. It feels like we are doing both tasks quite fine.
However, this morning I realized I was doing neither task well. I wanted to hear what he said. I have never heard this guy and was intrigued what he would bring. But the zoom camera was directly on his hands as he was doing the magic. The constant movement of the hands continually distracted me from his words. Certainly, I was aware that he was still talking. But my attention was on his hands. And in the magical moment when all three ropes turned out to be the same size, I have no clue what he was saying! My full attention was on the moment of miracle.
The bottom line is I took almost nothing away from the experience except to be convinced the guy is a good magician. I can be catty and say there was no magic in his words. Perhaps he was amazingly insightful and articulate; I just don’t know. I was not really present to the words and his potential insights. I recalled the studies to which I referred. They would say I was multi-switching, not multi-tasking. That was disappointing for me. And I am sure that is not what he hoped. My hope is that I was the only one in this boat.
This has led to some deeper reflection. I conclude that he tried to put two things together that don’t belong. Magic is pretty cool. It is entertaining. The point is to intrigue and mystify and he clearly achieved this goal. I also know that magic is not real. It is meant to deceive. And in its realm of entertainment and play, that is wonderful. It is fun and funny. He did put me and, I’m sure, the others under its spell of illusion. Those ropes did look both different in size and the same size. And logically, that cannot be the case. So there was deception, leading to illusion. But I have no idea when it happened or how.
Beyond entertainment, however, I don’t think there was any point to the magic. It did not teach me anything. It did not inspire me. Of course, I assume he could teach me the trick. But I vow I would not do magic while I am speaking. Often our words are not as stunning as a good magic trick. But our words point to some important and real stuff. When I talk about God, I am not doing magic. I think God is real, not a mere illusion.
To talk about God, grace, sin and all the rest takes some attention and then demands some action. Life is not simply a trick. Life is difficult and usually not entertaining. Life can become amazing, but it takes real effort and normally a period of disciplined growing. Life can become miraculous, but the miracle is in the transformation of our old self, as Paul and the late monk, Merton, would say. Our old self is transformed into a new, spiritual, compassionate being who is present in the world to serve.
I now realize I did learn an important lesson. I learned that this kind of life I want to live cannot be done as if it is magic. And I cannot multitask my way to spiritual depth. I will need to pay attention to the words, to the text and to the message. Magic is not the solution.
Those of us who have read theology or, perhaps, those who are people of faith and are old enough might well recognize this title as a reminder of the late Jewish philosopher and theologian, Martin Buber. I remember reading Buber’s book, I and Thou , when I was in college in the 1960s. It was already a famous book by then. I am not sure I fully understood it, but that would not be the last time I read it. It has been a while since I looked at the book. Buber came up in a conversation with a friend who asked if I had seen the recent article by David Brooks? I had not seen it, but when I was told about it, I knew I would quickly locate and read that piece. I very much like what Brooks decides to write about and what he contributes to societal conversation. I wish more people read him and took him seriously. Brooks’ article focused on the 2016 contentious election. He provocatively suggests, “Read Buber, Not the Polls!” I think Brooks puts
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