The Prestige

Today ended up being a good day. The interview went extremely well, I've been able to get some rest and relaxation, and I didn't have to drive 50 miles in and out of Oak Ridge. All excellent indications of a good day in my book.

On one of my usual thoughts about music, I've recently discovered a band called Anberlin who are really pretty good. They've been around for a number of years, but I didn't know much about them. They are Christians, but they're music is more pop/rock and not really so much what you would consider Christian music. In other words, they aren't like groups such as Casting Crowns, Kutless, or Skillet, but they have good music in the sense of the word without preaching to the choir as some would put it. They just released a new album called Cities which is excellent throughout, with my personal favorites being the tracks "The Unwinding Cable Car", "Alexithymia", and "Dismantle. Repair." Check them out if you've got the chance.

I've been a fan of magic for quite a long time. I can remember growing up watching the yearly David Copperfield TV special that would air, and the time period when magic shows were kind of a cultural phenomenon and they would have 2 hour specials at random times throughout the year. There is just something interesting about watching someone do something that just seems impossible to all of your senses, but they are right there in front of you doing it. Copperfield actually came here to Knoxville back last fall, and my parents and I went to the show. He's done some pretty impressive stuff, such as making a train car disappear in mid-air, flying, and walking through the Great Wall of China. My favorite trick when I saw him live was where he took 13 audience members, sat them down inside a box, closed it, made them all disappear and then re-appear in the back of the auditorium. Cool stuff. I wonder what it's like to be involved on stage with that. How does it feel? I think it'd be cool to find out at some point.

I got on to this magic thing because tonight I watched The Prestige, the story of two magicians that were once friends, but because of an event in their lives became enemies that spend their lives attempting out-do the other in the world of stage illusion. It's directed by Christoper Nolan, who recently did Batman Begins, and has also done the much talked about movie Memento, which I haven't seen. The Prestige is a really well-done movie, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The title stems from a description given at the start. It says that there are 3 parts/acts to a magic trick. The first is The Pledge, where something ordinary is taken and shown to be normal, at least from the audience point of view. The second part is The Turn, where the ordinary piece does something...extraordinary. At this point, you don't quite know what to make of what just happened, but you're waiting to see how everything turns out. The final part, is the Prestige. This is where the reveal occurs. The object is returned to normal, the thing that disappeared comes back in to view, what seemed wrong and impossible, is shown to somehow be possible.

I wonder if people around in Jesus' time might have felt like they were a part of something similar to this type of description. I wonder what would happen if we had our view of magic in their time what we would make of something like this. Obviously this is a poor comparison, but I do think that it holds on some levels. They were given the pledge, where Jesus came down from heaven and became a man, saying that anyone who followed him would have eternal life. To those on the earth, he was viewed as a prophet, and by some as the Christ. The turn comes, and suddenly the one we were calling the Christ is hanging from the cross dying. We don't know what to make of the situation, and what we viewed as our reality is falling apart. Finally, the prestige comes, and what a prestige it is. Not only is the tomb empty, but Jesus is alive, and he has ascended to the right hand of God to intercede for us. When everything seemed lost, and it didn't seem possible, it is shown to be a reality. The pledge really was true.

I guess that I like to think that God has a sense of humor, or at least a wit about him that enjoys seeing us go through our lives. I'd like to think that he laughs at our jokes, or cracks a smile when we do something silly or make complete fools of ourselves. Obviously sending his son was not an easy task, and he was incredibly pained at the separation he had to endure. But, like all great illusionists, he knew the true nature of the event. His sleight of hand fooled evil in to thinking that it had triumphed, when all along, God knew the secret. He knew...the prestige.