Clay and Magic

Thanks to the irresistible Bannister girls, I have now seen all five Harry Potter movies. Yes, even the newest one, which I actually spent money on. Not a week ago, I had seen only one of those movies, and now I sit here before you a thoroughly indoctrinated Harry Potter movie watcher. Not at all a fan, but I must concede to being rather entertained by the fourth and fifth movies.
Now there is an excess of squabbling in regards to the “appropriateness” of Harry Potter books, and I would like to clear things up a bit as to how I stand.
First off is the notorious argument that Harry Potter equals evil because he uses magic. Does magic exist? And if so, is it bad? Personally, I believe that events occur that many people would consider magic. I call them supernatural. Just a difference in word choice? No. Because to me, “magic” as used in Harry Potter and as commonly referred to, originates within the wizard or witch, whereas I believe that the supernatural exists outside of us. I believe that we have influence in the supernatural, but we are not the ones wielding its power.
Also, I strongly believe in the idea of stewardship of what we have been given. Repeatedly Harry Potter uses his mastery of magic to belittle or embarrass others or simply for personal pleasure or convenience. I am opposed to this. I believe that anyone with power of any form must not use it to tear down but to build up. As in Amos it questions the powerful and accuses them of ruining the poor and devouring the widow, we who are educated and wealthy are called into responsible stewardship of those powers; to use them in a way that builds and edifies the Kingdom of God, not our personal egos.
Another reason I hesitate to support the Potter series is the very fact that magic originates with the user. This places the complete glory of anything that happens on the witch or wizard, whereas I believe that our uses of our plentiful power ought to end with the glory residing on the One who gives us those powers. See, to Harry he is the Potter, and his magic is the clay to be shaped as he sees fit. In my view of the world, YHWH is the Potter and we are the clay to be molded in His infinite and impeccable wisdom. Not that the Harry Potter books/movies are the only production of pop-culture to send the wrong signals in this area; it is simply a good tool to use, because the magic Harry wields is easy to point to and say, "See, that's power!"
Finally, I support Harry Potter because of the fifth movie. There is a strong theme of the importance of community and teamwork to accomplish good. I believe as the Body of Christ this is also central to our survival. Recently I was essentially discussing this with my Dad. See, I have always been a strong encourager of community support when it comes to spiritual and emotional needs or blessings, but I am also learning that there is a very important place for community in regard to physical assets as well. And in the fifth movie we finally see Harry do something that places himself in significantly more danger simply for a friend. Now many of you may be saying, “What about when he goes back for Hermine when the troll comes?” “Or how about when he saves Sedric instead of getting the cup himself?” The difference, to me, is hesitation. In the earlier cases there was lag in his response; sometimes outright resistance. But in the fifth movie even when he is encouraged to do things alone he insists on the need of his friends, even fighting at the side of a dear friend to his death (although he still needs quite a bit of encouragement in a few scenes!).
So, like the vast majority of life outside of the brilliance of the Glory of the Lord of Hosts, Harry Potter is a mixture of good and evil. And as in the words of a Potter character, It is not that the fact that there is evil in us, but our choice as to how we will act that is important. Hopefully Potter finds some courage to continue the trend of virtue in the final chapters of his cultural saga.

PS> Personally, my opinion in regards to the combination of good and evil differs greatly from that of Hollywood; I wrote a note about it in Facebook, so I’ll copy that over a new blog just on the random fringe idea that someone might actually care.