Confession: I am a nerd. I love Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Broadway musicals. I love reading and watching Harry Potter (go Hufflepuffs!), Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Star Trek. I have loved them since I was a kid. While they are a means of escape from all the bad and evil that we see, they are also a means to see God through different eyes. They are a reminder that there is good in the world and it is worth fighting for, (to quote Samwise Gamgee loosely).
I’ve been listening to a podcast called “Harry Potter and the Sacred Text.” The premise is reading a book that you love with the thoughtfulness that you would a sacred text such as the Bible. Now hear me correctly, this is not trying to elevate the Harry Potter series to a sacred text, but to treat other literature with thoughtfulness and to look for new things within the text of Harry Potter. The podcast asks the question, “When is the last time you treated something you love as sacred?” The hosts of the podcast use sacred practices such as the Christian practice of Lectio Divina or the Jewish practice of Havruta to find insights in the text. They offer blessings for characters and people who act like those characters.
This podcast makes me think, not because I love Harry Potter, even though I do. It makes me think of when is the last time I saw God in an unexpected place? When did I take my eyes off my phone last to really notice something or someone? Or when is the last time I offered a blessing to someone? It’s not really a practice we do often, but a worthwhile one. Taking the time to say, “I see this good in you, and I bless you for it, and may God bless you for the love and care you show.”
“The Lord spoke to Moses: Tell Aaron and his sons: You will bless the Israelites as follows. Say to them: The Lord bless you and protect you.
The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up his face to you and grant you peace.
They will place my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
Numbers 6:22-27