After watching a magician perform a trick, our first thought is usually, “How did he do that?” The answer is simple: misdirection. A skillful magician leads us to focus our attention on something that seems important while he accomplishes his trick on the side. We miss the thing we really want to see because something else distracts us.
As illustrated in the following parable, sometimes misdirection comes not from trickery but from good things that seem more important than they really are.