Harry haze

Sorry, I've been slacking on the blog posts. It's been a busy couple of days in the office, and I've been staying up way too late to finish the Harry Potter saga. Storywise, "Deathly Hallows" was the darkest and most action-packed of the seven books. (And for those of you that haven't finished, no worries, there are no spoilers here)

From a faith/religion aspect, it's chock full of morals and values upheld by most religions. Love, community, commitment, mercy, and a willingness to stand up for what you believe are all critical components of our hero. A Christian idea of self-sacrifice takes center stage toward the end as Harry and his friends fight the dark wizards.

On a deeper level, Harry and friends spend a lot of time considering death and what it means to conquer death. There's also a spiritually fascinating thematic line about the connection between body and soul. As you may know from the sixth book, when a mind/body commits grave evil, the author suggests it has dire consequences for the soul. In this book, the possibility of redemption and justice is explained.

For those of you who have read it, what religious themes do you see? And for those that haven't, I highly recommend it for anyone say 11 or 12 and over.

Lessons from Hogwarts

Faith and the religious community has been part of the Harry Potter series since it became wildly popular about 10 years ago. Early on, many churches protested since it centers around a boy wizard. That uproar died down as folks started to examine it as a parable or fairy tale centered around the battle between good and evil, or pure love and selfishness.

As I watched the latest movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, some other subtle themes seemed to rise to the surface.

* Truth - The story is set around the conflict between Harry and others who believe the evil wizard Voldemort has returned and those who are still in denial. Despite some amount of physical and emotional pain because of his knowledge, Harry doesn't give up on the truth.

* Community - I love this particular story because it so parallels teenage development. Harry is now about 16 and like many teenagers, he is convinced the world revolves around him. And of course, no one else understands what he's going through. But he has to realize that he can't do it alone. Friends and mentors -- community -- are necessary to become the person he is supposed to be.

If you're looking for some other faith angles, try Beliefnet or the Dallas Morning News blogs.

I have a feeling the conclusion of the series, to be released in book form on Saturday, will have even more religious overtones. I'll let you know when I finish it...