Hunting Magic Eels:

Recovering an Enchanted Faith

in a Skeptical Age
Class Teaching Guide
Prepared by Richard Beck

Scheduling Note: This series can be five to six weeks. If a five-week series is preferred, Lesson 2 would
be skipped.

Class Resource: Hunting Magic Eels: Recovering an Enchanted Faith in a Skeptical Age by Richard Beck
(Broadleaf Books, 2021)

Publisher website: [Link]

Lesson 1: Attention Blindness

Hunting Magic Eels Content: Introduction

Key Teaching Point: Faith flows from attention, where we point our hearts, eyes, and mind.

Suggested Teaching/Discussion Outline:

1. Show or describe the “dancing gorilla experiment” to illustrate the phenomenon of “attention
blindness.”
• Here’s a link to a version of the original study featuring a “moonwalking bear”:
[Link]
2. Using the “dancing gorilla experiment” (or “moonwalking bear”) and the quotes below, make the
point that God’s presence and activity in our life is often the product of attention, our “willingness
to see.”
3. Read Acts 17:22-28.
• Notice how God was “the dancing gorilla” for Paul’s audience in Athens. God was the
most obvious fact about their lives (“He is not far from any one of us, for ‘in him we live,
move and have our being.’”). And yet, God was “unknown.” So, Paul draws their attention
to God.
• Draw a connection with this text and the Merton quote below: “We cannot be without God.
It’s impossible. The only thing is we don’t see it.”
4. Discussion Questions:
• Like watching the teams passing a ball back and forth, what draws your attention away
from God?
• Paul declares that in God “we live, move and have our being.” Where during your day to
you experience this truth? By contrast, where does God seem “missing” during your day?
Why do think you feel close or far away from God during these moments?

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 • What are some things you’ve done, or practices you’ve used, that help draw your attention
back to God?
• This week, what is your “dancing gorilla,” the thing you most need to pay attention to, but
will miss if you’re not paying attention?
5. Quotes:
• “Life is this simple. We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and God is
shining through it all the time. This is not just a fable or a nice story. It is true. If we
abandon ourselves to God and forget ourselves, we see it sometimes, and we see it maybe
frequently. God manifests Himself everywhere, in everything — in people and in things
and in nature and in events. It becomes very obvious that He is everywhere and in
everything and we cannot be without Him. You cannot be without God. It’s impossible.
It’s simply impossible. The only thing is that we don’t see it.” –Thomas Merton

• “It has seemed to me sometimes as though the Lord breathes on this poor gray ember of
Creation and it turns to radiance—for a moment or a year or the span of a life. And then it
sinks back into itself again, and to look at it no one would know it had anything to do with
fire, or light…Wherever you turn your eyes the world can shine like transfiguration. You
don't have to bring a thing to it except a little willingness to see.” -- Marilynne Robinson

• “Attention is the only faculty of the soul that gives access to God.” –Simone Weil

Lesson 2: Life in a Skeptical Age

Hunting Magic Eels Content: Chapters 1 and 2

Key Teaching Point: We’re living in an increasingly post-Christian world, where fewer and fewer people
identify as Christian. At the same time, we’re also very unhappy. Evangelism can focus on sharing the
“abundant life” we have in Jesus.

Suggested Teaching/Discussion Outline:

1. Share the headline and findings of the 2019 Pew report from Chapter 1. Or a story where you’ve
seen or experienced the spiritual struggles or lack of belief among younger generations.
• See also: [Link]
[Link]
2. Opening Discussion Questions:
• What have you noticed about faith among your peer group, the culture at large, or among
the younger generations? In your own families? At your church?
• Is faith harder for us today? Does church seem relevant or irrelevant? Why or why not?
• What are the challenges of evangelism in our culture?
3. A point raised in Chapter 2 is that, while belief is harder for our society, we’re also not doing very
well emotionally. Rates of anxiety, depression, addiction, and suicide are all on the rise, especially
among the younger generations. Discussion questions:
• What have you observed about how unwell we are as a society?
• Do you think there’s a connection between our struggles with faith and the emotional
struggles we are seeing in the world? If so, what is this connection?
4. Chapter 1 argues that for many of us, especially young people, “being good is good enough,” that
as long as we are loving people and politically active we don’t need God or church in our lives.
Discussion questions:

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 • Have you seen this dynamic, where people think that if they are good people (or good
enough) then God and church are irrelevant for their lives?
• What does God provide us beyond helping us live a moral or politically active life?
5. Read Scriptures like Matthew 11:28-29, John 14:27, Romans 15:13, and Philippians 4:4-7. There
is more to the Christian life than keeping the Ten Commandments and political elections. More to
life than “being good.” Discussion questions:
• Evangelism used to focus on sin and facing eternal judgment (e.g., “All have sinned and
fallen short of the glory of God.”). But in an anxious and increasingly post-Christian
world, how might texts like these be used in sharing the gospel with others?
• How might lives characterized peace, joy, hope, and gratitude attract others to Jesus? Can
you share a story where your own peace and joy caused someone to ask about the source of
your joy or peace?
• How can our community be more public and vocal in sharing “the abundant life” (John
10:10) we have in Christ?

Lesson 3: “Can I Get a Witness?”

Hunting Magic Eels Content: Chapters 3 and 4

Key Teaching Insight: Don’t think God only shows up in the spectacular or miraculous. If we open our
eyes and learn to pay attention we encounter God everywhere.

Suggested Teaching/Discussion Outline:

1. Chapter 3 describes “Christian atheism,” which happens when imagine that we are living in a
“two-story universe,” where God lives “upstairs” in heaven and we live “downstairs” on earth.
This imagination causes us to think God is “absent” and “distant” from us, rather than close, ever-
present, and intimate. Discussion questions:
• Have you ever, or do you now, struggle with “Christian atheism,” living in a “two-story
universe”? Do you expect to encounter God during the day, or do you forget about God for
long stretches? Do you notice places or times where God feels closer or farther from you
than others?
2. Read Acts 14:8-17.
• Paul declares that God has “not left himself without witness” in our lives. God is always
communicating to us. Have the class examine this text making a list of all the ways God
communicates (gives a witness) with us. Here’s an example list:
• “the heavens,” “the earth,” “the sea,” and “everything in them” (all the plants and
animals)
• Rain
• Agriculture
• Food
• Joy
• Paul says God communicates with us all the time, through the natural world, through good
meals, and through the joy in our hearts. Have the class reflect on and expand Paul’s list:
• Where do you experience God in the natural world?
• Share a story about a meal or table that you felt was “holy ground.”
• Where does God fill your heart with joy? How can joy be a compass to locate God in
your life?
• What would you add to Paul’s list? Where does God “witness” to you?
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Lesson 4: “Can These Bones Live?”
Hunting Magic Eels Content: Chapter 5

Key Teaching Insight: Help comes to us in the valley of dry bones when we turn our attention outward to
God.

Suggested Teaching/Discussion Outline:

1. Read Ezekiel 37:1-10.

• Reflect on how our lives can become “valleys of dry bones,” no hope, no options, no
potential. We’re stuck. In a hole. At a dead end. Out of ideas. Hit rock bottom. In these
moments help comes to us from the outside when the Spirit of God breathes us back to life.
2. Ann Lamont says our prayers are summed by three words: Thanks, Help, and Wow. Observe how
prayers of Thanks, Help, and Wow turn our attention outward, to a help that comes to us from
beyond the valley of dry bones. We say “thanks” when we’ve received a gift. We ask for “help”
when we cannot help ourselves. And we exclaim “wow” when we are awed or moved to wonder
by something bigger and greater than ourselves. Discussion questions:
• When recently have you prayed prayers of Thanks, Help and Wow? (Try to get examples
of all three in the discussion.)
3. Beyond Thanks, Help and Wow, we also have to turn outward to God to receive the gift of
“mattering,” knowing that we are a child of God. Share some of the stories of mattering in the
book:
• Mr. and Mrs. Doolittle and the origin of the song “His Eye is on the Sparrow” (pp. 56-57).
• Howard Thurman on why the American slaves were so attracted to Jesus (pp. 110-112).
• Chris Arnade’s conversation with Takeeska, and the power of mattering in “backrow”
America (pp. 112-115).
Observe how in each story there is a “valley of dry bones” (e.g., physical disability for the
Doolittle’s, slavery for Black Americans, and poverty for Takeeska and those sitting on the back
row of America). Then observe how mattering (“you are a child of God”) comes to us from
outside our present, troubled circumstances—as rescue, as a gift of grace that we can only receive,
as the Spirit of God blowing over our valley of dry bones. Discussion questions:
• Have you tried to play the game of self-esteem, setting up for yourself a metric of
performance and success? What have been those metrics? How has that game gone for
you? The book describes self-esteem as a roller-coaster ride, up and down with our
successes and failures. Have you experienced the ups and downs of shame and insecurity
in your own life? Or seen this roller-coaster ride in the lives of those your love?
• How is mattering (receiving your identity from God alone) different from the roller-coaster
ride of self-esteem?
• Share stories of how mattering in the eyes of God, especially when you did not matter to
yourself or others, has carried you through difficult parts of your life.

Lesson Five: Things Old and New

Hunting Magic Eels Content: Chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9

Key Teaching Insight: The Christian tradition is full of ideas, resources, and practices that can help direct
our attention to God. Jump in and try some of these!

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Suggested Teaching/Discussion Outline:

1. In Matthew 13:52 Jesus says a disciple brings out of the storeroom “things old and new” as
treasures of the kingdom. In these chapters we pull out “things old” from various Christian
traditions—ideas, resources, and practices that can help direct our attention to God.
2. These chapters survey many insights and techniques, too numerous to cover in a single class. Two
approaches might be used:
• Approach #1: Select topics from the chapter that resonate with you and share those. For
example, if you have a lot of experience with prayer practices or spiritual disciplines share
your experiences and insights about those with the class.
• Approach #2: Read aloud, share in a handout/or PowerPoint slide, or write on a board a list
of all the topics and techniques covered in these chapters. Examples include:
• Celebrating the liturgical seasons (e.g., Advent, Lent), lighting candles, using
anointing oil, pictures/icons/decor, art, prayer beads, jewelry, breath prayer, the Jesus
prayer, the prayer of examen, structured (written) prayers, praying at specific times of
the day, kneeling during prayer, lifting your hands during worship, sharing
testimonies, practicing gratitude, visiting and pilgrimages to “thin spaces,” using
feminine/mothering imagery for God, fasting, spiritual disciplines, spiritual direction,
spiritual retreats, poetry, nature, worship/praise/singing/music, turning to our anam
cara (“soul friends”).
• Having shared this list, discuss which of these you have found helpful in your
spiritual walk and ask the class to reflect on what they have found helpful in the list.
• Invite the class to expand on the list: What things do you do, or practices that you
have tried, that help focus your attention on God during the day?

Lesson Six: Discerning the Spirits

Hunting Magic Eels Content: Chapters 10 and 11

Key Teaching Insight: Not every experience we have is from God. Spiritual experiences require
discernment.

1. Read the following texts:

• 1 John 4:1
• 2 Corinthians 11:14
• Galatians 2:1-2
Discuss how we need to “discern the spirits,” because Satan can appear to us as “an angel of
light.” Notice how Paul needed to discern the vision he had received to verify that he had not been
“running in vain.”

(Another case study about discernment is from 1 Kings 22, where God sends a “lying spirit” to
Israel’s prophets to mislead the wicked king Ahab. Key lesson: Prophecy needs to be discerned.)
2. Discussion questions:
• Spiritual experiences are powerful, especially if we feel that God has spoken or revealed
something to us clearly and directly. Given this power, these experiences need to be
handled with careful, deliberate discernment. Discussion questions:
• What are the potential hazards of spiritual experiences?
• What would you consider to be “warning signs” that a spiritual experience is being
misused?

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 • Given the dangers here, what are some “rules,” “guidelines,” or “checklists” that we
might consider to discern if a spiritual experience is truly from God or not?
• Examine the case study of Acts 15. Notice how in this story “signs and wonders” (Acts
15:12) are a part of the discernment process, but also how those “signs and wonders” are
discerned by the church, communally, as a group. In addition, these “signs and wonders”
are checked against Scripture (Acts [Link] “the words of the prophets are in agreement
with this…”).
• Discussion question: How important are (1) communal discernment and (2) Scripture
in helping us discern our spiritual experiences?