Hi, A magician friend of mine is looking for ideas for what effects might be utilised to express the notion of patience, specifically with reference to that of the father in the parable of the prodigal son.

Any suggestions will be gratefully received.

Many thanks.

The story of the prodigal son doesn't have anything to do with the father's patience per se, it doesn't state that he did have patience, we don't know how he was reacting while his son had run away...but I guess he could speculate.

You could use a vanishing kethcup bottle, especially if he has the NN Heinz bottle, heinz is known for being slow...place bottle in brown paper bag and talk about how it's going to disappear...keep looking, keep looking...it's not gone...then all of a sudden you wad up the paper bag and it's vanished...Tag line: Anticipation...that is probably more of what the father had, he anticipated the day his son would come home.

Or you could use any vanishing type of effect, and you just wait for it to vanish...ketchup bottle works best because of the commercials surrounding Heinz.

I hope that gives you a seed

I have a great Gospel trick for "patience" but you'll have to wait for it.

(Sorry, couldn't resist.(lol)

Terry, love your idea with the ketchup bottle!

I use Forgetful Freddie for the prodigal son. Losing his head represents making bad decisions. The balloon head represents he is an air head and the reappearance of his head and the popping of the balloon represents more joy in heaven over one sinner that repents, but you will find no patience in this routine.

I think what my friend is/was getting at was the idea that you shouldn't necessarily expect things to happen for you instantly and that prayers/questions will be heard but the results of these prayer/questions might not necessarily be on your own terms and that you might have to be patient.

I think he was/is applying this to the parable of the parable of the prodigal son with reference to the wait that the father had whilst his son was away. Not necessarily that this was the specific underlying message of the parable but that the aspect or lesson of patience can be applied to it.

Hope that helps.

Anymore suggestions for ways to go with this welcomed.

Many thanks for the input so far.

You're so bad Gospel Dan

Are you actually talking about the concept of obedience? Obeying God / being faithful / doing the right thing even when you don't see the immediate (or external) reward for your obedience? This also ties into the theme of hope just as much as patience.

Another great Bible story that illustrates this is the story of Joseph.

- Donald