Is the world influenced by the supernatural

Is the world magical?


Okay, i haven't used witch or wizard -- so that's a good thing.

But for this once, let me use magical...rather than spiritual...
and please assume i mean only the best. How about supernatural?
Or fantastical?

One of my big problems with christians is how the simple mention of a word

can turn them off. but the christians have not given the world a replacement for the word "magic"

the nearest one can think is "a fairy tale" but that is too light. Or "fantastical."

but magical is not the right word either. Christians will not give the word "magical" a chance.

It's a bit like how C S Lewis has suffered because of his use of the word myth or Madeliene L'engle has suffered

because she used the word "fantasy." Both describe the ultimate reality. God's reality. Christ's reality.

So what will I do with this word "magical"? Obviously, I can't redeem it because it is used in the Bible to

show man's attempt to connect to the evil dark forces in the universe.

SO let me use the world "supernatural." And I hope I don't get slammed for this word,

although "supernatural" seems to separate the world into (generally) natural .

then suddenly some stuff rarely happens that is a bit off-center a bit supernatural?

Supernatural implies that the godly, the numinous, the weird, happens only rarely. 

Magical implies rules we know nothing about...but which are ever-present because 

the world at its core is following rules created by laws and a force higher than the ones we understand.

So is the world supernatural?

It is, in that there are forces operating that our rational minds
don't know, understand or have forgotten. I understand I'm using a 
word that many Christians are taught to hate. Perhaps i should have used
miraculous or wondrous or odd.


But  think of it: all the world, all the universe, all the mega-verses are in line with God except for this one rebel outpost that does't understand his love or his power or his ways. Because of that loss, that rebellion, that utter lack of knowledge we don't easily fall in line with the power-force-supernatural ways. We christians are called to bring God's light and god's ways into this world -- his power, force, magice, whatever we may call it-- to bring the world closerto being transformed by His power, to call the world out of darkness into God's marvelous light.

But all this loveliness is turned into doctrine theology mode -- instead of delight and simplicity and resting in a trust that the underlying spiritual laws of God are really what rules the world. Sad

There is the issue of non-humans and their effect on the world.
There are curses  in the family line,  ways  in which we curse
ourselves, by actions,  thoughts,  deeds


There is the question of what wecan controland what has power over us
and God's intervention;  there is prayer, working through  evil
spirits,  like Pharoh's magicians; working thru sacrements such as
baptism,  that transforms  us, sacrements that put us in covenants
with God and  others;  sacrements  that give us power, like the laying
on of  hands, there is speaking God's word and decreeing it to come to past...


So  how magical  is  this  world? And how magical is it intended to
be?  Jesus saved us to the uttermost. He gave us a great salvation.
Through him, through the ritual of his blood, through his work of
saving  us, He has restored dominion and power to a new kind of  man.


This new kind of man is battling all the time with the old kind of
man.  So we really don't know, as individuals, or as a church, the
greatness to which we are called in this life.


The world, the human flesh, the devil, fight against this great
salvation.  We don't know how much power we have over death,over
sickness, over things great and small, through the name of Christ.


Because it is through faith in the name of Christ that we are called
to show forth God's glory. But our imagination can't attain to the
knowledge, the height, width, depth, length of God's power working in
us who believe in Christ.  We almost  it. I feel as if it's like
learning to swim  or ride a bike. The place where one reaches that
tipping pointwhereone learning to float on the  everlasting arms.  In
learningtokeep  ones  balance whileriding on God's glory. I feel the
day will come when I and all the church will be swept away, water past
the knees, water past the thighs,waters to swim in, when we will truly
 understand that  the world is based on faith,on irrational,wonderful
things,on true magic.