1978 The Packing Create Escape

As a young boy I remember watching the Tony Curtis movie HOUDINI with a mixture of terror and amazement as Houdini attempted to escape from a packing crate being lowered into a hole in the frozen Detroit River. The chain broke and the box plummeted to the bottom of the river. Houdini escaped, but he couldn't surface due to the ice. He had to skim along the under-suface of the ice to find air pockets to breath.

Tony Curtis, as Houdini, trapped under the ice covered Detroit River.

That movie was foundational for my love of magic, Houdini, and showmanship, but I wanted nothing to do with underwater escapes... they terrified me. But that was when I was 6. Fast-forward 10 years. At age 16, I attempted my first of six underwater escapes.

The year was 1978. The location was my home town's local swimming hole, the Batavia Quarry, an old limestone quarry turned into a park district pool. The manager just happened to be my 8th grade math teacher and athletic coach. I told him I knew how to escape from a box underwater like Houdini did. Rather than him dismissing me a crazy, he said, "Let's try it!" 

A local wood shop pounded together a wooden crate and we began practicing with the lifeguards (who all happened to be high school buddies) early mornings before the pool opened. 

On the day of the escape, about 1500 people showed up to watch. The town sheriff handcuffed me behind my back, I was placed in the wooden crate (which had 300 pounds of bricks inside to weigh it down), the lid was nailed shut, chains were locked around the crate, and the high school football team pushed the crate into the deep end of the pool. 

After 2 long minutes of waiting, finally, I surfaced, free of the cuffs, and the box was still in tact.  

The Milk Can Escape

Houdini did an escape from an oversize milk can that was filled with water and padlocked shut. Just before going under, Houdini would ask the audience to take a deep breath and hold it as long as they could. A curtain was placed around the locked can, and the agony began. Audience members were gasping for air within 30 seconds. When a minute passed they were beside themselves that Houdini was not yet free, but this would go on for another minute, then another. Finally Houdini would come bursting through the curtain dripping wet and gasping for air to thunderous applause.

In the summer of 1979 I attempted to recreate, not just Houdini's escape, but some of the drama that went with it. First a 55 gallon oil drum was examined and filled with water. I was handcuffed and placed in the can. The lid was padlocked shut with several padlocks. Finally a curtain was placed around the can. 

 One minute passed. Two minutes. At the end of the third minute, the curtain was removed and the can was found still locked. The rescue team removed the locks, reached in the can, and removed a pair of swimming trunks. Just then I came running out of the crowd in a suit and tie.

 

Dr. Death

Back in the 70s and 80s Doug Henning was the top magician of stage and TV. I never missed his TV specials (except for in collage when the only fire drill our dorm ever had was during a Doug Henning Special), and was able to see him perform live a number of times.

I will never forget two of his most spectacular tricks. One is called Things That Go Bump in the Night.

The other amazing feet was his attempted escape from the Houdini Water Torture Cell.

What fascinated me with these tricks was the surprise transposition that takes everyone's breath away at the end. I wanted to finish my escapes with something along these lines. In 1983, we introduced a new character to the escape performance, Dr. Death. Dr. Death was an unknown shadowy figure who wore a black robe and hood. He handcuffed me, tied me in a canvas bag, and locked me in a wooden crate. The create was dragged out into the middle of the shallow end of the Quarry pool. I was given 2 minutes to escape, but I didn't get out in time. The rescue crew rushed out, removed the crate, opened the locks, and Dr. Death cut the bag open; but when the bag fell it was not me, but Mary Ann. She reached over and removed the hood from Dr. Death... and it was me!

The Packing Crate Escape

As a young boy I remember watching the Tony Curtis movie HOUDINI with a mixture of terror and amazement as Houdini attempted to escape from a packing crate being lowered into a hole in the frozen Detroit River. The chain broke and the box plummeted to the bottom of the river. Houdini escaped, but he couldn't surface due to the ice. He had to skim along the under-suface of the ice to find air pockets to breath.

Tony Curtis, as Houdini, trapped under the ice covered Detroit River.

That movie was foundational for my love of magic, Houdini, and showmanship, but I wanted nothing to do with underwater escapes... they terrified me. But that was when I was 6. Fast-forward 10 years. At age 16, I attempted my first of six underwater escapes.

The year was 1978. The location was my home town's local swimming hole, the Batavia Quarry, an old limestone quarry turned into a park district pool. The manager just happened to be my 8th grade math teacher and athletic coach. I told him I knew how to escape from a box underwater like Houdini did. Rather than him dismissing me a crazy, he said, "Let's try it!" 

A local wood shop pounded together a wooden crate and we began practicing with the lifeguards (who all happened to be high school buddies) early mornings before the pool opened. 

On the day of the escape, about 1500 people showed up to watch. The town sheriff handcuffed me behind my back, I was placed in the wooden crate (which had 300 pounds of bricks inside to weigh it down), the lid was nailed shut, chains were locked around the crate, and the high school football team pushed the crate into the deep end of the pool. 

After 2 long minutes of waiting, finally, I surfaced, free of the cuffs, and the box was still in tact.  

The Milk Can Escape

Houdini did an escape from an oversize milk can that was filled with water and padlocked shut. Just before going under, Houdini would ask the audience to take a deep breath and hold it as long as they could. A curtain was placed around the locked can, and the agony began. Audience members were gasping for air within 30 seconds. When a minute passed they were beside themselves that Houdini was not yet free, but this would go on for another minute, then another. Finally Houdini would come bursting through the curtain dripping wet and gasping for air to thunderous applause.

In the summer of 1979 I attempted to recreate, not just Houdini's escape, but some of the drama that went with it. First a 55 gallon oil drum was examined and filled with water. I was handcuffed and placed in the can. The lid was padlocked shut with several padlocks. Finally a curtain was placed around the can. 

 One minute passed. Two minutes. At the end of the third minute, the curtain was removed and the can was found still locked. The rescue team removed the locks, reached in the can, and removed a pair of swimming trunks. Just then I came running out of the crowd in a suit and tie.

 

I guess it all comes down to a simple choice...

Resolved: Not to be a legalist

As the New Year approaches thousands of sermons will be preached calling the saints to a renewed vigor: have a consistent quiet time, serve in a ministry, tithe, love, serve harder, do more. Of course there is nothing wrong with calling the saints to be all God wants them to be, unless all this trying is done with the wrong motive. This Sunday I will be addressing the issue of having the right motive, or even better, not having the wrong motive... legalism.

Legalism is believing our effort is what brings us favor before God. This could be effort to earn salvation (justification) or effort to earn God's daily approval (sanctification).

Have you ever pondered how much God hates legalism? The Galatians had fallen into legalism. Paul calls it another gospel which will send the proclaimers to hell. In frustration, he asked the Galatians, "who has bewitched you?" He even wished castration upon the legalists who were requiring circumcision for salvation.

Why is God so upset with legalism? First, legalism is an insult to Christ's work on the cross. If we really need to do things to be accepted by God then Christ's sacrifice is not enough. There is no way around it; if we need to add something to please God, then Jesus didn't do enough. When he cried "it is finished," he really should have cried, "I started it, now you finish it." What a degrading thing to say about the cross.

Second, legalism lowers God's holiness and elevates our assessment of our own holiness. After all, to believe our efforts are actually satisfying his requirement to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and love our neighbors as ourselves requires an amazing amount of self-deception.

Third, legalism shifts the focus from looking at our heart corruption to being satisfied with our outward performance. Jesus berated the Pharisees for cleaning the outside of the cup while ignoring the filthy inside. Of course, if we actually think we are going to satisfy a holy God a great strategy is to come up with some external rules we can actually pull off.

Fourth, legalism leads to judgementalism of others. If we are going to actually pretend to be acceptable before God, we need to convince ourselves that we are doing OK. The only way to do this is to shift the focus off of God's actual standard and put it on something we can actually measure... other people. You know you are a legalist if you spend a lot of time sizing up others, tearing down others, finding fault with others, and comparing them to yourself. It is a ruthless world for the legalist. How we are doing with God is directly dependent upon whether we are winning the competition against others. There is not a lot of room for love in the legalist's world.

Finally, most legalists are not happy people. Deep inside, in spite of all their efforts to convince themselves they are good with God, they know they fall short. This nagging doubt brings a joylessness that can only be eased in one way... making sure others are not enjoying the joy of salvation. So being critical, reminding others of where they fall short, and piling rules on others to bring them discouragement, depression, and joylessness are the tools the legalist uses to spread his misery around.

Flee the legalist. Don't let them bewitch you. Fight for your joy by living in the freedom Christ has purchased for you. How's that for a New Year's resolution!