Meeting David Copperfield

It's 8:00pm and we are on the fifth hour of our ten hour trip from Las Vegas to home in good old Boise, Idaho.  This route is long and straight and may I say rather boring. There is not much to look at besides the occasional cattle ranch, which leads me to wonder what their lives are like out here all alone.  I imagine it's like the movie "Man from Snowy River" without the mountains or snowy river. 

We are coming home after spending a few days at our daughter's lacrosse tournament. While Vegas is not one of our favorite cities to visit, Brent and I thought we might as well hit our first Vegas show. Brent let me pick. David Copperfield. 

I can remember the days as a young girl, watching a very tall, dark, mysterious man with a great big smile do extraordinary magic. What would he be like now?

Music starts. Lights go out. Lights come on and a large medal box on wheels appears. You can see through the box, under the box, and assistants walk through the box. A white cloth falls down each side of the empty crate and when it's whipped away, there sits THE David Copperfield on a huge Harley motorcycle. (I don't know if it was a Harley, but I thought it would give you a good description of the bike's class and style). There he was. One of the greatest magicians, arriving in his usual fashion - appearing out of nowhere!  How he got there I have no idea.

He was much older than the 1970's Copperfield in my childhood memories, but he still had an air of confidence and charisma I remember well. Right off the bat, Copperfield involved the audience bringing individuals up on stage, asking them questions, and making them a part of his magic. 

Throughout the evening items were thrown into the crowd as a strategy to find volunteers. A man was picked and given two foam X's to throw up over his head. One landed near a lady directly behind him. As the man got ready to throw the next "X" I had a split moment thought, "If that comes my way I'm not reaching for it." And I didn't. Cause I didn't have to. It came flying directly towards me and landed on my table in front of me. There was nothing I could do but pick it up and head to the stage. 

As I walked up the stairs, the foam "X" was snatched from my hand and before I could catch my breath David had grabbed my right hand and whisked me on stage to my appointed spot. I was so nervous I thought I was going to faint (I can do that if I think about it too much).  Then my mind became distracted by my shaking knees. I couldn't hear what David was saying to the crowd very well, which made me even more nervous. He quickly led me underneath a group of words hanging by ribbons. I put on a blindfold, and he asked me to walk until the music stopped. When the music ended, I was told to reach up and pull down a word above my head, still blindfolded. 

The word in my hand was TRUTH. 

Then he had the other lady who caught the first "X" to look at her wrist band and on it appeared the word, Truth. THEN he asked the entire audience to look at their wristbands...there was the word, Truth. David raised our arms over our heads, and we three took a bow. The audience may have seen him kiss my hand, but that too was an illusion. In reality, he kissed his own hand! I got to look David Copperfield in the eye, face to face. I was so overcome with gratitude that I kept saying thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. He still has a great smile!

I was giddy the rest of the night. So star-struck from my own guest appearance with him, I was much more engaged in the rest of the show. I got to be involved with the master plan even though I had no idea what I was doing. All I had to do was follow his instructions, and he would do the rest. He would bring the supernatural to the natural and awe us.

Now I'm not going to compare God to a magician because He is definitely and completely much more than that. However, I can often times understand God better in light of my earthly interactions with others. My experiences also bring about an awareness of my own human responses that help me get what God is up to at times. 

Before I was picked to go on stage, I enjoyed the show as an observer. No doubt. But it wasn't until I was a fully engaged participant, that the show had meaning to me.

 Involvement engaged my heart! 

My emotions were triggered, and my spirit was free. Perhaps that's why God decides to use us in His master plan even though we could mess things up. 

We try to take control of situations. Can you imagine what it would have been like if I had said to David, "Mr. Copperfield, I think we should do it this way." That would be ridiculous! Or even if I said, "No, wait. I'd like to go change my clothes first before I come on stage. I'm not quite ready yet." (The thought did come to mind as all the ladies were dressed up for their Vegas night and I stood on stage with my jeans, tevas, and Eagle High School sweatshirt - Go Mustangs!).

Absurd. I wouldn't do that to my friend David, but sadly I do it to The Master planner. My knees are shaking. I don't know what to expect, but instead of excitement and trust in Him I give way to fear and start taking control myself or hide from involvement, not reaching out for the opportunity to be more than an observer. 

"For I hold you by your right hand-- I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, "Don't be afraid. I am here to help you."  Isaiah 41:13 (NLT)

How would we live life differently if we viewed life as a magical stage: shocked yet honored to be hand picked out of the crowd to play the part we've been given. It doesn't matter that we are nervous and our knees are shaking. It doesn't matter if we are dressed appropriately for the occasion or feel a bit ill-prepared. 

God's got ahold of your right hand. Trust He will place you in the right position in His perfect timing. Listen to His instructions each step of the way even though you might not understand what is going on or what He is doing. Keep going until He says stop, and you realize you have found Truth in the palm of your hand. He has guided you to Truth. Truth that brings you peace, healing, wisdom, comfort, and love. It opens up our hearts to see the truth in why God involves us in His plan. And there's nothing much else to say other than...thank you, thank you, and thank you again. It's an honor to live life with God.

We all play a beautiful part on the stage of life, together with the Master Director, who loves to awe us with His extraordinary plans through ordinary people, willing to get out of their seats and be active participants, fully engaged. That's something to be giddy about!

Proof that I was there and picked the word Truth!

A David Copperfield smile for you.