Monday, January 20, 2014

I've Read the Last Page


Most of you know I have just finished reading the Harry Potter books.  (I am a slow starter.)  I don’t mean casually reading them at intervals and waiting for the next one to come out.  Because they are already published, I had all of them at my disposal.  And I am retired.  So I dove into them completely – nonstop.  
 
Readers will understand that reading even one book immerses you into that world.  If the book is good, you live it for as long as you are reading.  So for a while now, I have been seeing my whole world through vivid Harry Potter glasses.  And now I’m watching the videos.
 
I’m about to read another imaginative, dark story called “Hollow City”, a follow-on to “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.”  These books are weird, wonderful and completely creepy.  And this is not really like me.  I will not watch scary movies.  (My children will tell you that Beetlejuice scared the wits out of me.)  For a while now, my hard-drawn line was “I will not read scary books or watch scary movies.”  I’m still holding part of it – I do not enjoy scary movies, except in the case of the Potter series because I’m simply curious to see what they’ve done with the books.
 
But a few days ago, a friend of mine shared a link to an article, “The Dark-Tinted, Truth-Filled Reading List We Owe Our Kids” [i] about the value of darkness and evil properly represented in books.  The timing was perfect considering my current reading list.
 
So today as I drove into town and looked into the woods with my Harry Potter eyes, I realized that I need this reminder that there is, indeed, a very real battle being fought against me and my faith and also on my behalf.  I need not be obsessed with the idea.  But I relish the comfort that comes in the understanding, the very real assurance that I have a Hero and He has already won.  He will slay the dragon in the end.
 
Ephesians 6:12; Romans 8:38-39
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms… For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.



[i] http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/january-february/dark-tinted-truth-filled-reading-list-our-kids-need.html?paging=off

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