Tanner's prompt for today is Sadness.
I loved the Harry Potter series as a kid. I'm less of a die-hard fan now, but it's still a great story, and it's really a story built on sadness. In the very first chapter, we learn that the main character's parents were murdered by an evil wizard, leaving him an orphan at just one year old.
Harry really starts to process this in the third book, when he encounters dark creatures known as dementors. These creatures force him to relive the moment his parents died - over and over and over again. He hears his mother's screams. He hears his father's panic. And the first few times he meets dementors, he's powerless against them, overwhelmed by the memories. He passes out.
Instead of accepting defeat, Harry decides to fight back. He goes to a trusted teacher and asks for help. Professor Lupin teaches him a spell called the Patronus Charm. This spell only works if you are able to focus hard on a very happy memory. Then, a silvery protector emerges from your wand and charges the dementors, making them back down.
An interesting conclusion can be drawn from this part of Harry's story: overwhelming happiness can defeat overwhelming sadness. It's certainly not that simple, but that doesn't mean that's an untrue statement.
The devil wants us to be overwhelmed by sadness. He wants us to focus hard on it and think of nothing else. But God shows us a different way. He shows us overwhelming joy.
It can be hard to focus on the positive, but Harry's story gives us a clue about that as well: he didn't conquer the dementors alone.
Also, fun fact: Lupin gave him a lot of chocolate.
Stay tuned for June 7th: Mercy.
No comments:
Post a Comment