Some souls we could learn from
SOUL FOOD
Nearly a year ago I wrote in this column about the movie “Harry
Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
The movie and J.K. Rowling’s four published books in the Harry
Potter series had taken a beating from some religious leaders and
laity because of the wizardry that is so central to her tales. Some
denounced the books for promoting witchcraft, which is condemned in
Scripture. Others claimed the stories made readers more open to evil.
At the time, I had not read Rowling’s books but the movie left me,
well, enchanted. I have since read her books and I have to say, I
still am.
The books are fantasies set in a world where wizardry, with its
potions and its charms, is a tool -- not unlike money or politics or
technology in our world. It’s neither good nor evil in and of itself.
It is only through its use that it serves good or evil and its use
is a human or, more exactly in Potter’s world, a wizard’s choice. His
world is a world where children have power. And their character and
their destiny are forged by how they choose to use it.
Rowling’s fifth book, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,”
will arrive in bookstores Saturday, which has something to do with
what brings Harry Potter to mind again.
To promote the long-awaited new book, its publisher, Scholastic,
sponsored a national essay contest. Contestants were required to
write a 300-word essay to answer the question “If you could have one
special power taught at Hogwarts (that’s the school Harry Potter
attends), what would it be and why?”
Scholastic received more than 12,000 essays from which 10 winners
were chosen. Each essayist was awarded an all expense paid trip, for
themselves and a chaperone, to London to hear Rowling read from her
new novel then answer questions from the audience at The Royal Albert
Hall.
I might never have heard of any of this except that Heide
Kaminski, the mother of 14-year-old Angela Wyse, one of the contest
winners, is an acquaintance of mine.
“They were all quite good,” Heide wrote about the winning essays
that were published in the June 11 issue of USA Today. “Some of the
winner’s entries can bring tears to your eyes!”
Angela’s essay was clever, pure humor and wit, as were a couple of
others. But Heide’s warning about those that could bring tears to my
eyes didn’t prepare me for what I read.
Eight-year-old Daniel Boyce wanted an Autistic Cure Potion for his
sister Suzie. Brittany Hawkrigg, 16, wanted the power to heal her
father who had a massive stoke nearly 14 years ago.
Emily Grayson wanted a Hogwarts polyjuice potion that would allow
her and her friend Tara, who is blind, to change places for a while.
“I’d become her and see what it’s like to be blind. Then I could
help her better. She could see what I look like, and how pretty she
is!” wrote the 8-year-old.
I think oftentimes we seriously underestimate what goes on in
minds and the hearts of children.
David Dawson, whose heart broke when his mother died, wanted a
potion to heal broken hearts -- his own but also others.
“I don’t care who makes it, evil or good. It can help people all
over the world. I loved my mom and she is gone. I would like the
sadness to start lifting somewhat,” wrote the 14-year-old boy.
I wonder how much he understands the implications of trying to do
something good by ways and means that might be evil.
When I lost my grandmother when I was nearly 14, I’m not sure I
understood them at all. I think I felt a lot like Dawson. I might
have made a deal with the devil, then, if I’d thought he could bring
my grandmother back to me -- and to my broken-hearted mother.
On the Scholastic web site, Arthur Levine, editor of the Harry
Potter books published in the United States, is quoted saying,
“[Rowling’s books] speak to our deep yearning for the power to make
our lives better and to leave an impact on this world.”
It’s this very yearning, often as not, that draws us in faith to
God. In the face of life’s losses and all its unfairness, we seek
comfort, healing and justice. Even children.
I think Levine is right: Speaking to this yearning is Rowling’s
magic. Rather than scorn it, maybe we can learn from it instead.
* MICHELE MARR is a freelance writer from Huntington Beach. She
can be reached at michele@soulfoodfiles.com.
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