In my bedroom, I have a stuffed Hagrid and a Harry Potter doll on top of my dresser. At their feet is a stuffed basilisk. I also have a little Dobby figurine complete with an iron and a lamp in his hands. My 9 year-old gray cat is named Dobby, and when I call him I find myself saying his name in a British accent. Why is that? Harry Potter has been an integral part of my life and the life of my family.
As a writer I am in awe of J.K. Rowling. She didn't get an M.F.A. in creative writing, she just loved to write, and she had a story in her head that begged to be written. I don't believe one person could have just dreamed that whole story up. I believe that story was given to her to write; it was a gift of the gods to humankind; to children of all ages. It is nothing short of brilliant! Rowling herself has an uncanny brilliance to have been the teller of that story. HP is full of symbols that touch the soul, tell us who we are, and give us courage to live for love and Goodness, against all odds. The summary of the entire series is that Love Always Wins. By jove, I dare say that's biblical!! In the end, it's not violence or power that endures, but love. It's the power that sees us through when all seems dark and hopeless and we look entirely mad to still believe in its possibility.
My daughter Sarah was 7 years old when the first Potter movie came out, and she had been introduced to the Harry Potter series in elementary form at school. She wanted to see the movie. I was painfully aware of the religious controversy over it, so I decided to find out for myself what all the hubbub was about. I purchased "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" because the waiting list was too long at the library. Larry and Sarah went to the movie, but I wanted to wait and read the book first.
That was in November 2001. The whole world was sad and dark during that time. As a pastor and human being, I struggled with hope after 9/11. But when I started reading "Harry Potter" I was transported into a world of magic, of imagination, wonder, delight, fun, depth, spirit and hope. Yep, a so-called children's book gave me HOPE. I couldn't stop at the end of the book. I bought the second one, the third and the fourth and anxiously awaited the fifth. I read the first 4 during the four weeks of Advent, and that was very fitting. A time of great upheaval in the world after 9/11 and Advent; a time of waiting and trusting against all evidence that Love will win in the end. Harry's story helped me through a horribly dark time. Both Larry and Sarah read the books as well, and with each new book's publication, we impatiently waited for one to finish so the next person could read it.
In the 10 years since, we have loved Harry, and Sarah has literally grown up with the story. We've watched all the movies more than once, and celebrated the unique genius of each effort to convert the books to film with integrity. I have cared about the actors and actresses who've translated this story for us so beautifully and allowed us all to watch them grow up so admirably in front of millions of aunts, uncles and cousins. I'm encouraged that they turned out so well in an age where child actors too often become the subject of tragic stories. I've been particularly enamored with Snape and his silky voice, and his character that was so much more than met the eye. He showed us that we all have the potential for goodness and bravery and deep, passionate love.
It is my favorite story of all time. It is a smorgasboard of truths about the human condition, that just when you're ready to give up and be a cynic, you are assured that there is Something Greater always at work that will always triumph for those who persist in believing and risk appearing naive in this cynical world.
Thank you, Harry, and thank you, J.K. Rowling, for giving us such a powerful story to carry with us. Thank you for teasing our crusty imaginations alive again, making us feel like children again who still believe in magic, and for assuring us dreamers that there is reason to keep on keeping on for a world without evil, violence, greed and lust for power that eventually kills both body and spirit.
I keep big ol' huggable Hagrid and The Boy Who Lived (Twice) up where I can see them before I go to sleep, just in case my dreams get scary. And I remember that Love will shelter me in my sleeping and my waking, no matter what.
If I only believe.....
