THe above is a bible reference I thought I’d embed in photo I clipped from Order of The Phoenix. Far be it for me to take the fun out of looking for your bible or seeking one in a book store, please decode the above. You will find it is quite fitting to the entire Harry Potter series.
Speaking of bible verses, I am growing fond of Isaiah 59, more specifically verse 9-12:
Therefore justice is far from us, & righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we live in the night.
We grope along a wall like the blind; we grope like those without eyes. We stumble at noon as though it were twilight; we are like the dead among those who are healthy.
We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.
For our transgressions have multiplied before You…
For every great story of epic proportions between good vs evil, there is the constant struggle that tempts us into thinking that evil will overpower us. As the above picture alludes in its bible verse I provide, the fight is never ending. I have often quoted myself saying I am fighting in a world that keeps on fighting. These are invisible battles. We do not fight against the flesh but of the spirit. And because of our human nature, we can fall short of the mark of how we are to treat each other.
This morning while praying in church after taking communion, I asked to be forgiven of my own transgressions. For my failure in my actions, words, and desires in my heart that may be less than what God expects from me…The refreshing thing is knowing that I am welcomed back into His heart each time I recognize this. In my own experiences, I can empathize what God goes through with each of His children that seem to ignore Him or wish to end their relationship with Him…And yet, patiently, He waits for them keeping his arms wide open in a big embrace to welcome them back home.
I have gone through many battles, psychological & physical. We each have a personal Voldemort to contend with, the key being the unfailing hope & faith to stand firm in our understanding that we will overcome any temptation or personal struggle if we choose not to give up.
Often in times of despair, we may even curse out God & slowly slip into the temptation that God doesn’t exist…I have cursed at God on many occasions asking Him, “Why has this not changed?” or “Why have you taken things I love?” or “Why have you given me this heart that takes things so seriously?” etc etc. etc.
This is enough to make one become an atheist. Blow by blow you feel knocked down. Of course, we do not fail as long as we choose to get up. Greg Garret writes in The Gospel According to U2 :
So prayer, pleading, even shouting at God implies relationship, & relationship when we speak of God, brings us back to belief
Much like the U2 lyric “How long, how long must we sing this song”, I as a singer/songwriter write songs that are much like a poet who writes a lament about the state of how God plays a role, however slow in his ways, in my life. The maturation process requires a period of waiting, for ancient wisdom traditions suggest that we must be transformed before we can reach out to others. (Garret, p.30). This transformation may require us to stand trials in personal deserts not unlike that of the Israelites in their migration to the Promised Land. The tests if successfully completed will bring great reward, not of material but in spiritual value.
The release of the newest Harry Potter film is an opportune time for me to reveal deeper how much this series has meant to me in developing my faith further. Counteracting other people’s arguments that this series will only confuse others in a direction away from God, I can only say that such worries cannot affect those marked already as God’s children. As long as one keeps his or her eyes to the truth God provides for us in the book written long before Harry Potter came along, we can be assured that God will make sure we walk in the path that promises life.
