Life is Magical; You Do Not Want to Know How

The room was suddenly thrown into darkness and a spotlight is focused onto a tall figure who has all eyes turned to his direction. The auditorium is silent and everyone holds their breath to watch the spectacle.

The masked magician takes an empty bag from the inner pocket of his cloak, lays it on the table and turns it inside out. He tosses it several times to prove that the bag is empty, and indeed it is! He turns left, and then right and makes gestures to indicate the act of invoking a spirit. He reaches into the bag and out comes a white rabbit. He brings out a second rabbit and another, and another.

Everyone sits up!

The bag begins to swell and several doves are seen flying out of it. And just when he wins a thunderous applause from the audience, he unexpectedly defies the laws of gravity by making himself float in mid-air – right before our eyes. This is amazing!

So how does he do the trick? How does any magician come up with the mind-blowing deceits that keep us wondering? How does he cause a woman to appear and disappear at the snap of his fingers? How?

Magic is one of the oldest arts and since written records began, performers have baffled and shocked their audiences by creating illusions of the impossible. While most of their tricks remain precious secrets, we could draw inspiration from this art.

Magic allows you to experience the impossible. It creates a conflict between the things you think can happen and the things you experience. While magicians take the pleasure of making us believe they possess real supernatural powers, the true secret behind magic lies in clever psychological techniques that exploit limitations in the way our brains work.

Let’s just say without the illusions, the fun in mystics never exist.

People chase magic because they want a sense of wonder. They want to experience something they can’t explain. The surprise is gone when the truth is known. If magicians explained what they do, the trick becomes mundane and we lose the magic. The simplest way of explaining magic is that it is when something happens where you can’t automatically see the link between cause and effect.

Here’s the import: sometimes, life is more phenomenal when we can’t explain…when we are confused about why things happen; when astonishment makes settlement on our faces.

Very importantly, not knowing takes away all the fear and anxiety that may have stopped us in our tracks. I might die today, and so could you. You could get hit by a bus tomorrow, but you do not need to know about it today. If you knew, you would lock yourself up indoors and eventually die of boredom. Death would come, either ways.

We spend the whole of our life looking for answers because we think it will change something and make us less miserable. But the fun of life is not in knowing. It is in not knowing.

They say the truth will set you free, but that is it not true. We admit it jestingly not knowing that this axiom has more meaning than most people know. Truth is, the truth can sometimes be horrible and frightening and complicated. Have you ever tried to break the magician’s code to find out how they walked on water? Too convoluted, too complex!

God’s mysteries mean a lot to us, because He conceals His ways from us. He would appear less of a supreme being if we could predict his ways and understand how He works. 

Imagine how ungrateful we would be if we knew where and how the next breakthrough would come from. Imagine how paranormal we would think of ourselves if we had answers to all the questions under the sun.

The truth is more than you can bear. The truth is sickening.  Be careful what you ask for. Because when you find out what is really going on, you may never recover from the shock. You could get hurt.

No magician is too famous, no trick is too big, and no secret is too sacred. Breaking the magician’s code takes away all the excitement. Reasons don’t always matter.

Results are the only thing. Life is supposed to be like a magic show. Enjoy the marvel. You may not necessarily need to know how.