An Open Heart [book review]

Politics, romance, medical emergencies, good vs. evil in a foreign land… this story has it all.  Sure, the author is a doctor and there are a few medical terms in the story that needed me to find them in my dictionary, but it wasn’t overwhelming.  The plot focuses on the action – political action, romantic “action,” emergency response, and battles of the wills.

Throughout the 432 pages of narrative in An Open Heart, I felt conflicted.  Do I love this book or do I feel detached?  Is this book gimmicky or is this reality?  Is the message contrived or is this a real issue that I need to consider?

These questions are the beauty of An Open Heart.  (Not so) strange as it may be, while I was reading, I kept thinking back to a few stories I’ve heard from people who have experienced big things concerning magic.  When I was a child, my mom used to watch the same channel on TV all morning, every weekday morning – and child that I was, I watched it with her.  First, we would watch Good Morning, America for the news and fun little tidbits, then we would watch a few game shows, a couple of soap operas, the noon news… and then it was my turn to watch kid shows including The Big Whammy and Dumbo’s Circus …. at least that’s the way I remember it happening.

One of those soap stars was none other than she of transcendent beauty (pre-botox, of course), Hunter Tylo.  I don’t know anything about her life in recent years, but 13 years ago, her book Making a Miracle was published.  Although I have not read the book, I do remember an interview in which she recounted a life-changing incident from her recent past: after filming on-location in India for a TV mini-series, she returned home feeling refreshed and very “centered” …very “zen.”  As soon as she returned home, she placed some statues on her mantle (next to the family Bible) that she had purchased as souvenirs, to remind her of the mystical experiences that India brought into her life.  That same evening, Hunter Tylo was sitting at the dinner table with her husband and children when they heard a loud crash inside the house.  When they ran to where the sound came from, they discovered that all of the statues had lept onto the floor.  The fact that they had lept of their own volition was the only conclusion that anyone could make since they were on a stable shelf with no human or animal nearby to move them onto the floor.  The story goes that Hunter Tylo placed the statues back on the mantle with awe and reverence, then the family returned to the dinner table.  It happened two more times, distracting the family from spending time together.  So, the family did what any reasonable American would do – they put the statues in the trash and called them idols.  Immediately, the household returned to normal and they were able to finish their dinner in peace.  Of course, the only thing left on the mantle was a Bible and Hunter Tylo has spent the years since then proclaiming her Christianity.

It’s a nice story.  It’s a crazy story.  It’s a hokey story even.  At the time that I heard the story, I was in junior high school and it was popular for Americans to say that magic is “pretend” and just an “illusion.”  I’m not sure America is in that same place anymore, given the magicians currently basking in the spotlight of fame.

What I do know is that a few years later, in my own life, I heard a war veteran give a sermon about his time in Somalia.  There was just a short mention of idols being for sale at every shop he visited, sacrifices offered in public areas, magic working among the people of the land who focused their attention and lives on pleasing the spirits and manipulating power for social and political gain.  That pastor read a Bible passage that shaped my worldview:

God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. – Acts 19:11-20 ESV

Here’s how it impacted my life… Have you ever played that childhood game called Bloody Mary?  The girls at my school played that game every day.  It’s like a seance.  It has to be in the bathroom, you have to have a mirror, everybody has to hold hands, water calls the spirits.  Does it sound like a game to you?  It’s not.  It’s a conjuring of “Bloody Mary.”  Sometimes little girls see Bloody Mary’s image, sometimes they see the image of someone related to her such as her brother or her husband.  Most of the time, little girls are lept on by demons.  Screams of terror, pitch blackness and bodily harm are expected.  I’ve been in the bathroom when it happened; it’s an overwhelming obsession that makes little girls insensitive to which other girls are cowering scared in the bathroom because they’re there for the bathroom’s original design: to use the toilet.  I’ve seen little girls unexpectedly vomit in the sink.  I’ve seen creatures fly at them and scratch their faces to draw blood.  I’ve seen them fly across the bathroom, hit the wall, and fall to the floor unconscious.  I’ve seen girls come running out of the bathroom topless because their shirts are shredded into tiny pieces.  I’ve seen a little girl get her foot stuck inside the toilet and have to call the ambulance to cut her out of it because she was foolish enough to summon demons.  This isn’t a joke; I’ve seen it happen.  I can’t imagine what childhood is like for the children who don’t go to a Christian school like I did.  And I can’t imagine devoting my life to magic.

And all of this is what came to my mind when that pastor read the verse that says: “the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”  How can we protect ourselves?  Jesus.

No one reading this book has to believe what it says.  You don’t have to believe this blog for that matter.  But magic is real.  Harry Potter can attest to that.  So can the millions who have fun with amateur magic.  Just ask the average passerby on the streets if they can define what a “muggle” is.  Trust me, people know.  It’s real.

Getting back to the story of An Open Heart by Harry Kraus though, I want to clearly state that it’s a really, really good book.  There’s lots of action, powerful suspense, and intelligent characters.  I was able to predict a few things that happened, but just like when I’m reading a good John Grisham novel, I didn’t mind.  In other words, this is a book worth reading.  Just think about the implications of the witch doctor’s actions while you read – that’s all I’m saying.  Ask yourself the difficult questions in life or you’ll never find any answers.

Rating:  Worth Reading – think about the implications.

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