Some souls we could learn from

SOUL FOOD

Nearly a year ago I wrote in this column about the movie “Harry

Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”

The movie and J.K. Rowling’s four published books in the Harry

Potter series had taken a beating from some religious leaders and

laity because of the wizardry that is so central to her tales. Some

denounced the books for promoting witchcraft, which is condemned in

Scripture. Others claimed the stories made readers more open to evil.

At the time, I had not read Rowling’s books but the movie left me,

well, enchanted. I have since read her books and I have to say, I

still am.

The books are fantasies set in a world where wizardry, with its

potions and its charms, is a tool -- not unlike money or politics or

technology in our world. It’s neither good nor evil in and of itself.

It is only through its use that it serves good or evil and its use

is a human or, more exactly in Potter’s world, a wizard’s choice. His

world is a world where children have power. And their character and

their destiny are forged by how they choose to use it.

Rowling’s fifth book, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,”

will arrive in bookstores Saturday, which has something to do with

what brings Harry Potter to mind again.

To promote the long-awaited new book, its publisher, Scholastic,

sponsored a national essay contest. Contestants were required to

write a 300-word essay to answer the question “If you could have one

special power taught at Hogwarts (that’s the school Harry Potter

attends), what would it be and why?”

Scholastic received more than 12,000 essays from which 10 winners

were chosen. Each essayist was awarded an all expense paid trip, for

themselves and a chaperone, to London to hear Rowling read from her

new novel then answer questions from the audience at The Royal Albert

Hall.

I might never have heard of any of this except that Heide

Kaminski, the mother of 14-year-old Angela Wyse, one of the contest

winners, is an acquaintance of mine.

“They were all quite good,” Heide wrote about the winning essays

that were published in the June 11 issue of USA Today. “Some of the

winner’s entries can bring tears to your eyes!”

Angela’s essay was clever, pure humor and wit, as were a couple of

others. But Heide’s warning about those that could bring tears to my

eyes didn’t prepare me for what I read.

Eight-year-old Daniel Boyce wanted an Autistic Cure Potion for his

sister Suzie. Brittany Hawkrigg, 16, wanted the power to heal her

father who had a massive stoke nearly 14 years ago.

Emily Grayson wanted a Hogwarts polyjuice potion that would allow

her and her friend Tara, who is blind, to change places for a while.

“I’d become her and see what it’s like to be blind. Then I could

help her better. She could see what I look like, and how pretty she

is!” wrote the 8-year-old.

I think oftentimes we seriously underestimate what goes on in

minds and the hearts of children.

David Dawson, whose heart broke when his mother died, wanted a

potion to heal broken hearts -- his own but also others.

“I don’t care who makes it, evil or good. It can help people all

over the world. I loved my mom and she is gone. I would like the

sadness to start lifting somewhat,” wrote the 14-year-old boy.

I wonder how much he understands the implications of trying to do

something good by ways and means that might be evil.

When I lost my grandmother when I was nearly 14, I’m not sure I

understood them at all. I think I felt a lot like Dawson. I might

have made a deal with the devil, then, if I’d thought he could bring

my grandmother back to me -- and to my broken-hearted mother.

On the Scholastic web site, Arthur Levine, editor of the Harry

Potter books published in the United States, is quoted saying,

“[Rowling’s books] speak to our deep yearning for the power to make

our lives better and to leave an impact on this world.”

It’s this very yearning, often as not, that draws us in faith to

God. In the face of life’s losses and all its unfairness, we seek

comfort, healing and justice. Even children.

I think Levine is right: Speaking to this yearning is Rowling’s

magic. Rather than scorn it, maybe we can learn from it instead.

* MICHELE MARR is a freelance writer from Huntington Beach. She

can be reached at [email protected].