So last week at work when I said that I was going to see Harry Potter over the weekend; a coworker said that I was condoning the ways of Satan by watching the movie and/ or reading the books. What ensued was a rather interesting theological conversation in a rather unlikely environment. My coworker isn’t religious, but his wife is a very strict Seventh-day Adventist so he decided to play devil’s advocate to see how I would react.
His/ his wife’s argument is that HP and it’s wizardry is against the laws of the Bible and thus the work of Satan, sent in popular form to desensitize people to Satan’s lure. He quoted Deuteronomy 18: 10-14 to make his point. And by quoted I mean he did a Google search to find a website that would give him the scripture he needed to validate his opinion. I didn’t get drawn into this very deeply; there is plenty of citable law from the O.T. that isn’t applicable to today. Levirate marriage, Deuteronomy 25:5, don’t plant two types of seed in your vineyard Deut. 22:8-10, selling your daughter into slavery Exodus 21:7, don’t touch the skin of an unclean animal Lev. 11:7, don’t wear clothing made from two types of material Lev.19:19, working on the Sabbath should result in death Exodus 35:2 (and yes I am aware that I am lifting some of this blatantly from an episode of West Wing, that doesn’t make it any less applicable).
So their combined ability to quote/ google an obscure law from the O.T. doesn’t make me question whether or not I should enjoy the HP series as much as I do. The thing that really gets me thinking is that in a few years time people will really truly value my opinion and my take on things. If someone asks me if it is OK for them to read HP to their children and I say yes or no, they could assume that that is God’s opinion and not just that of Fr. T.J.
The weight of that responsibility hit me hard, like a blow to the stomach.
And I am still trying to wrestle with that idea in my head. Not that I hadn’t thought about it before, but Bishop Cate in our meeting said that when she makes someone a Postulant, she does so with the intention of ordaining that person. Now it is hitting me that if things continue as they are that all the blessings but more imminently all the struggles that come along with the Priesthood are a very real likelihood.
I know that God throughout the Bible and time has called people who are seemingly unqualified, but right now I am just feeling unqualified. Which is silly, I have dealt with this issue before and I know that God calls those people he wants, those people who through grace and faith alone are made no longer wanting. Still though the impending weight of that responsibility is sitting squarely on my chest. And yet again I am working through feeling not quite up to God’s plan for me.
Perhaps my ability to see my shortcomings and know that I need God’s help is what it really takes to be an honest steward of God’s creation. If my thoughts are rooted in a love for God and a love for God’s people, then I think that I may be doing OK.
Even if watching HP has now become something that I must defend…
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