re-reading Harry Potter

Well, in commemoration of having read the first five books in the series of Harry Potter last August, I started re-reading them again this August. Since I found I couldn't put them down and read them through very quickly the first time, I'm sort of taking my time this year. I just finished the first one this weekend. That's a whole week longer than last year. By this time last year, I was already working on the third book. I admit, I was a little obsessed.

Well, anyways.... as some of you may know, the former title of my blog was where God can be found and I had named it so, in part, because of Harry Potter. God met me in some ways while I was reading these books that I completely did not expect..... First of all, if you had asked me a year ago before August to read Harry Potter, I would have looked at you like you were asking me to eat worms. All that I had heard gave me the terrible impression that anyone who read Harry Potter was evil. I was really a mess. A good friend, whose judgment I completely trusted, convinced me she had read them and was no worse off than before. So, I started reading them, just to see what the hype was all about. And, as you can tell by the first paragraph of this post, I became a "Harry Potter believer" in just a few short weeks..... So, back to the many ways God met me in the story of this wizard boy. It was in reading Harry Potter and sharing my experience of reading it with this friend that I came to realize the passion for story and words that God has placed within me. I also began to realize more clearly that I spent a lot of time reading these books and did not spend as much time or find as much joy in reading God's own word. I distinctly remember not having so much a sense of condemnation as a sense of sadness that I was missing out on sharing in a much bigger and more significant story than Harry Potter could ever be. God used these books to draw me back to His story and to rid me of some old, crippling hang-ups I had about "quiet times." He also showed me the beauty of the tension that comes from being in the world and not of it - enjoying and sharing the gifts God has given us, but not making them idols above Himself. I had to repent many times for what I could see becoming more important than God while reading these books. And, of course, I was deeply moved by the friendships that the main characters shared - good times and bad. Friendships, loyalty, and bravery are all things that seem to move me very deeply. There are also definite spiritual themes that I can see playing out in these stories. There is talk about love and how the shedding of blood protects Harry and of course, the battle between a definite good and evil and many themes revolving around both aspects of the fight. There are also two resounding elements of death and power which saturate the darker plots of the story.

I really enjoy these books and hopefully, this time around, I can spend a little more time taking them in (and living within that tension I talked about) and also doing what I love - exploring some of the themes of these stories in my own words and sharing a little bit of my passion for them with you. And, if you haven't read these books before, I'm giving you fair warning that in talking about them, I may give some of the story away. So if you think you'll ever read the books and don't want to know anything ahead of time, don't read my coming posts about Harry Potter!

For the moment, here are some quotes that I loved from the book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, this time around -

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that."

"Harry - you're a great wizard you know."
"I'm not as good as you," said Harry....
"Me!" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things - friendship and bravery..."

"Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign...to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin...."

"There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends...."