It’s been more than thirty years ago but I still remember the first time I ever met with a counselor. I told him about myself, what was going on in my life, and the changes I was looking for. 

About the second or third session he said, “Mike, you aren’t here looking to change your life. You are looking for magic and there is no such thing as magic.”

I stopped seeing him shortly after that but I didn’t stop searching for magic or the Magical Other. I’m still working on letting go of that. I don’t look for magic as much as I used to but sometimes I still want it. Sometimes I still look for the Magical Other. 

I want someone to not just give me the answers but be the answer, someone to protect me from life and save me from myself, someone that mends my life and completes me. 

I’ve wanted that from Marga my current therapist, David my best friend and spiritual director, and my wife Cyndy. I’ve wanted them to be my Magical Other. If they really loved and cared about me then they would wave their magic wand or say the magic words over me and my life and all would be well. And I wouldn’t even have to ask. They’d just know what I need.

What about you? Don’t you sometimes want some magic? Haven’t you sometimes waited or searched for a Magical Other? Who is that for you? In what ways is magic a part of your life today?

I think we all live with the fantasy that somewhere out there is a Magical Other who will read our minds and meet our deepest wants and needs, protect us from suffering, spare us pain, rescue us, fix our lives, and make our lives work (Hollis, The Eden Project, 37; Hollis, Swamplands, 143). 

I wonder if that’s why, in today’s gospel (Mark 1:29-39), “the whole city was gathered around the door” of the house Jesus was in. I wonder if that’s what’s going on when Simon and the others tell Jesus, “Everyone is searching for you.” I wonder if the whole city and everyone searching for Jesus want him to be their Magical Other. 

I’ve wanted Jesus to be my Magical Other, haven’t you? I think that’s often how we read the gospels. Jesus is our savior. He makes the blind see and the crippled walk. All we need do is ask and it will be given us. In what ways is Jesus the Magical Other for you today? What magic are you seeking?

I wonder if we sometimes think of faith and prayer as tickets into the magic show that will relieve us of our fever. That’s easy to do with gospel stories like today’s. 

Think about how we often talk about faith and prayer, what we say to each other and ourselves. “I need more faith.” “She needs a miracle, pray hard.” It’s as if having more faith and praying harder are like buying more expensive tickets that get you a better seat at the magic show and an increased chance of being called up on stage. 

I don’t doubt that the need is real and the faith is sincere. But what’s behind that? What’s really going on when we say those kind of things or when we want some magic? 

When I make Jesus the Magical Other I’m usually bumping up against my limitations. I’m often overwhelmed and feel powerless. I’m scared. I want to hand off a difficulty or problem I’ve created for myself. I’m looking for a shortcut. I don’t want to take responsibility for my life. I’m feeling empty and needy. I want an escape hatch or a get out jail free card. 

The intensity with which I seek magic is almost aways a reflection of the depth and breadth of my pain, fear, brokenness, and need. I suppose that’s true for you too. I suppose that’s why the “whole city” had gathered at Jesus’ door and “everyone” was searching for him.

The pain of the world and the needs of people have always been great. But there is no magic and Jesus is not the Magical Other. I think that’s why when the disciples say to him, “Everyone is searching for you,” he tells them, “Let’s get out of here.” 

It’s a strange response and makes me wonder if Jesus knows everyone wants him to be their Magical Other. If he really were the magician we want him to be, the one we praise and applaud, wouldn’t he stay for an encore? But he doesn’t. That’s not who he is.

Here’s what strikes me about his leaving. He leaves not to perform more miracles but in order to “proclaim the message” in other towns. “That is what I came to do,” he says. His focus is on the message not the miracles. And that makes me wonder about the priority we often give miracles in the gospels. 

What if the miracles in today’s gospel, or any of the gospels, are simply visual aids to the message Jesus is proclaiming and not the message itself? What if miracles point to the message but are not the point of the message? What if they are outward and visible signs of inner changes and transformations?

From the beginning of Mark’s account of the gospel Jesus’ message has been, “The kingdom of God has come near, repent, and believe in the good news.” (Mark 1:15) That’s what the miracles in today’s gospel point to.

They are images and metaphors of new life, change and transformation. They are constituted by the “power to make things new, to transform our lives, to give us hope where there was despair, love where there was hate, companionship where there was only solitude.” (Caputo, Weakness, 238-239) 

Magic is the illusion we can escape our life and world. Miracles, however, engage us more deeply in the reality of our life and world. Magic is our attempt to run away. Miracles, however, happen when we show up and say, “Here I am.” Magic entertains. A miracle transforms and changes us.

A miracle happens every time we embody and live the message of Jesus’ good news. A miracle is taking place whenever we bring compassion to the hurting, welcome to the stranger, forgiveness to the guilty. When we offer relief to those in need, water to the thirsty, food to the hungry, love to the enemy, and peace to the violent we are living a miracle. In whatever ways we might renew our lives, become more truly ourselves, live more fully alive we are participating in a miracle. 

What’s the miracle you need today? What change or transformation can you offer another? Where and how might you bring new life to the world?

Don’t settle for magic. Proclaim the message. We sell ourselves and each other short when we settle for magic. You’ve probably been to a magic show. It’s fun and entertaining but when it’s over nothing has changed. You return to the same life and the same world. But recall a time another offered you love, hope, forgiveness. Recall a time when someone touched and changed your life in a miraculous way. The message had been proclaimed and everything was different.

Hold out for the miracle. Hold out for the miracle. 

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Image Credit: By Rembrandt, Christ Healing Peter’s Mother-in-Law – http://www.zeno.org : Home : Info : Pic, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons.