This morning’s excerpt from The Mockingbird Devotional comes
from Ethan Richardson.   People seem to get deceived in one of
two ways. Either the deceiver has done a very good job imitating
the real thing; or the deceived forgets the real thing, or had
never really known the real thing at all, and so he can’t tell
the difference when the trick comes on. A great example of the
first is conniving Jacob, wrapped in wool like his hairy brother
Esau, to steal Esau’s blessing from Isaac (Gen 27). He must have
been convincing, but then again, that story has a little bit of
the second way, too: after all, Jacob’s ruse never would’ve
panned out had Isaac been able to tell the two apart. Isaac’s
blindness was key in his own subversion.  More people than can
be counted have and will continue to take on “messianic”
deceptions of the most epic proportions. It’s a safe bet:
political heads and activists, mystics and celebrities and
popular designers have always created a miraculous and watchful
stir. Today, with online comm