Wild about Harry

I admit it. I have Harryitis. I ordered the book before it came out. I started reading it ten minutes after it arrived by UPS. I completed all 750 odd pages in five days and managed to work, clean house for incoming family and sleep a little. Yes, I do remember it is a work of fiction. Harry is not real, Hogwarts does not exist and whether Harry lives or dies is not a matter of national security.

All that being said, lets face it, Harry Potter is a cool story. It is the ultimate quest book, the battle between good and evil, the ultimate striving with temptation and the triumph of love. What is wrong with all that? Apparently enough to cause many within the family of faith to have a stroke over and the debate rages loudly about the merit of such books and the damage they may do. I am not willing to take that argument on. I believe strongly that all parents should carefully guard what they expose their children to, and if they have qualms or concerns they have a responsibility to check it out. I wasn't all that excited about exposing my 9 year old to Harry and all the dark influences and have done so only in small ways and always with adults present to act as a filter. It has sparked many discussions and I think I can say with some confidence I don't think Harry has had much impact for Sam.

However, Harry has had a tremendous impact on Sam's mom. I found the last book a moment of triumph book that was inspirational and based in good Christian theology intentional or otherwise. Harry's life is spared as a baby because of the sacrificial love of his mother, and has the opportunity to make himself a sacrifice for others. Without being a plot spoiler, isn't that the message in Christianity? God gave his son as a sacrificial love offering for his people, inspiring not only reconciliation and eternal life for his people, but also the opportunity to go on to become sacrificial love offerings themselves. Perhaps not always or even often to the point of death, but certainly in service and mission. Quite frankly, except for the change in the setting I think it's the same story as the Star Wars movies, The Lord of the Ring Series, perhaps even Indiana Jones and even at the risk of offending the brethren, the book of Acts. Great adventure, risks and persecution, lives lost for the cause, the triumph of good in the end.


I must say that deep inside of me is the desire to believe that I could in the face of such obstacles and be creative enough, resourceful enough, courageous enough, to be a hero. In the Lord of the Ring series, Gandalf tells Frodo no one chooses to have these opportunities, they are thrust upon them. The only choice is to rise to the occasion. Doesn't that challenge to do so and the hope that in the face of defeat you might just possibility be victorious stimulate your imagination? And isn't that one of the miraculous gifts in our relationship with God? He redeems us, gives us profoundly challenging opportunities and then enables us to be victorious?

I like Harry. I like the way the series ended. I would have made a couple of changes in my version of the story but I found it satisfactory. I wish I had the wit and wisdom to create such a story that inspires such passion that people will invest time and energy to become a part of it. I don't know that it will change one thing in course of history but it does teach me this, we desire that good prevail. We are inspired by those who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the love of others and we want the assurance that in the end, we win. Interesting isn't it that having given his people this hunger, God fulfills it in his own son. And then in each generation seems to find a new way for the story to be told. Just my two cents.