Photo by Cody Otto on Unsplash
Last time, I wrote here and here about why we should try to give a wide berth to the dark arts and the demonic or satanic.
This week, to confuse you, I will tell you that you SHOULD read the Harry Potter series. I didn’t say I would be consistent! Give me a break! Who has time for authenticity nowadays? We’re too busy scrolling social media to have time to figure out who we are! It’s easier to follow the crowd, anyway!
And since there are gross Halloween decorations in every major department store right now, let’s talk about why you might as well read Harry Potter, too, while you’re at it.
Ahem . . .
So, several years ago, I was huddled in a corner, trying to shut out the world with its scary stuff. Children held out their Halloween candy to me once and yelled, “Boo!” and I screamed, terrified. “We have to keep ourselves CLEAR of all of that stuff!” I yelled after them as they ran away, laughing.
Actually, that memory has exactly the same point as my recent posts, come to think of it! Stay CLEAR of demonic stuff!
So today, let’s run as far as we can in the opposite direction. What satanic stuff SHOULD we be holding onto and perhaps even incorporating INTO our lives?
Ha!
I bet you don’t hear that question every day! You’re welcome! Good luck!
Now let’s get started as we dig a bit deeper to unearth some insights so that we can travel on our spiritual paths free of BOTH:
- Weird satanic stuff that could overwhelm us (See the last post), AND
- Weird spiritual “rules” (I.e., what to read or not read) designed to make us appear more spiritual than others* but that also choke the proclamation of Christ’s love
We’re talking about Point #2 today, so that’s why we’re discussing which demonic stuff we want to incorporate into our lives.
Let’s start with Harry Potter. The books crawl with spider webs and warlocks, abuse of power, and fear-filled followers of evil (I.e., scary Death Eaters).
Surely, this stuff is a NO-GO! We must confidently assert.
Not so fast.
The Harry Potter series helped me to more deeply emotionally resonate with the choice Jesus Christ made to hang on a cross so we could be free.
What now? You’re wondering.
Yup. Here. Hold my popcorn because I need my hands to explain (I’m Italian).
Harry Potter discovered a prophecy that said he needed to die so that his world could be free of evil (I.e., the guy Voldemort). Harry’s struggle with what this sacrifice would cost him personally and what it would mean for everyone else’s freedom in his world was a palpable decision he struggled with that made my hands sweat, quite literally. The point is, the fact of Jesus CHOOSING to undergo such intense pain SO THAT I could be set free came home in a new way to me as I stayed up into the wee hours of the night with a flashlight trying to figure out how the story ends.
The Harry Potter series ends with freedom for everyone in his world because he CHOOSES to sacrifice his one life for them.
Exactly like in our world.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
. . . God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,
on him, on him.
Can I have my popcorn back? I want to see how this movie ends.
Our movie here on earth, that is, with OUR actors, us.
Great literature must treat evil, sometimes in a base and repulsive form . . . as do the Christian Scriptures.
Three Faces of Evil: Christian Writers and the Portrayal of Moral Evil by Susan Wise Bauer in The Christian Imagination
Drawing by MY HOMESCHOOLED KID! (Because homeschooled kids are our hope)
Footnotes
*Wait – Isn’t that the goal of our spiritual lives? Dang! Now I’m confused again!
Restoring Life 