According to Wikipedia,
"Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is a conceptual system
that asserts human ability to control the natural world (including
events, objects, people, and physical phenomena) through mystical,
paranormal or supernatural means."
Also:
"Magic is a performing art that entertains an audience by
creating illusions of impossible or supernatural feats, using purely
natural means. These feats are called magic tricks, effects or
illusions."
What is the Source of Magic? I will tell you
what I believe. I believe the Source of Magic is the Source of all
things, God. By the power of God all things were created, Man was
placed on the earth, and dominion was given to him.
After the Fall, Adam was given certain tasks to perform to restore
that fellowship he had once had with his Creator. And Priesthood,
the power to act in the name of God, was given to him to help him
perform those tasks.
Some of Adam’s children, like Cain, chose other ways such as murder
to gain power, wealth, and approval, even making pacts with each other
and with the devil, God’s adversary. Through designs devised by men
or “inspired” by Satan (the meaning of mystical is initiated), God’s
power and priesthood were imitated and perverted.
God’s “Magic” is real. Satan’s magic is fraud, deception, and lies.
He has no real power over any of us unless we surrender to him, and
Christ has the power to redeem all if we surrender to Him. The magic
of mortal men is merely entertainment and trickery.
Is it any wonder that men who didn’t want to follow God’s plan, chose
to find other ways to gain these powers, if only by deceiving
themselves? Over the millennia, magicians have developed all sorts of
practices to help them appear to know the future and manipulate the
world around them. Today we have fortune tellers, palm readers, tarot
cards, ouija boards, etc. Seeking to speak with spirits of the dead,
which Satan could only imitate, men became involved with devils. And
yet, when the witch of Endor called upon her familiar spirit by the
command of king Saul, she was astonished when God sent the real Samuel
to speak with Saul. Magicians use magic wands, kinda like Moses’ rod,
used to gobble up snakes, turn the rivers to blood, and part the Red
Sea.
God works miracles. They may have “natural” explanations, but because
of timing, etc., they are still miracles. Some people seem to feel that
if you can explain it, it wasn’t a miracle, or, if you can’t explain it,
it couldn’t have happened. To my way of thinking, if you can explain
how it happened, you still have to explain why it happened when and
where it did, and to only those people and not to others. And if you
can’t explain it, well, maybe we don’t understand God as well as we
thought we did.
Yes, I believe in Magic! When I am still, I can
feel the power of God
around me. I see it in life everywhere. I see it in the beauty of His
creation and in the kind actions of people one to another. I have used
His priesthood power to heal and to give comfort, to perform
ordinances for the living, and to act as proxy in ordinances for the dead
who cannot do it for themselves, being out of the body. I have known
His power to guide me in important decisions and felt His power to
comfort when I was grieving. Science
cannot answer all the important questions, as useful as it is. God has
all the answers. God has all the power. He knows our pasts and He knows
our futures, because He has known us longer than we know ourselves.
by David E. Sawyer, January 3, 2008
