Bending of starlight doesn't seem so unusual.

A mirror will reflect or divert the path of photons.

A prism will not only bend photons, but will also break them up into visible colors.

What is more magical than bending starlight is the universal coherence of photons emanating from stars and other sources in a constant stream over minutes or thousands of years. If you are in Columbus, and I am in Nashville, and we both look up at the same star, you are seeing a different coherent stream of photons, but essentially the same image.

Why doesn't the light fade into a blur, or completely vanish?

What is the real property of photons?

Do scientists really understand light?