Finding Life Correlations in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
Some of you may have thought we gave up on our year of Harry Potter, but not so my friends, not so! On our trip to Logan and Montana we listened to almost all 20 hours of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) on CD. The man who does the reading is sensational. His British accent combined with the fantastic voices he does for each character made listening such an enjoyable experience. As the story progressed, I kept jotting down bits of wisdom from the story that I wanted to go back and reread in my copy of the book. Here are a few of my favorites.
.jpg)
In Chapter 24, Hagrid is heartbroken by the Rita Skeeter article that paints him as a vicious giant and hides away in his hut for several days. I love when Dumbledore tells him, "Really Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time." He then goes on to tell him that he has people complaining constantly about how he runs the school, but he can't let that stop him from doing his job. It made me think about times in my life when I have cared far too much about what other people have thought of me and let it affect my self esteem. It took me a lot of years before I realized it is impossible to please everyone, so you had better make sure you are pleasing the two most important people: God and yourself. If your aims are to please God, you can never go wrong, and if you are happy with yourself, no one else's opinions of you will matter anymore.
This concept clicks for Hagrid as he tells Harry, Ron and Hermione how good Dumbledore has always been to him and how he has always seen Hargrid for who he truly is. He says, "He knows people can turn out okay even if their families weren'...well...respectable. But some don' understand that. There's some who'd always hold it agianst yeh...there's some who'd even pretend they just had big bones rather than stand up an' say - I am what I am, an' I'm not ashamed. 'Never be ashamed' my ol' dad used ter say, 'there's some who'll hold it against you, but they're not worth botherin' with.' An' he was right."
Such a tender monologue and so full of truth. We are who we are. Heavenly Father created each of us as individuals. It's no use trying to compare yourself to others because there will always always be someone who is better or worse off than you are. Be proud of who you are and the talents God has given you.
The most poignant passage in the entire book to me was in the final chapter when Dumbledore is giving his final speech to the students. He tells them directly how Cedric died and what they must do in order to resist the evil and dangers that will surely come there ways. Indulge me for a moment and replace "Lord Voldemort" with "Satan" in a few paragraphs of Dumbledore's speech. Gospel parallels anyone?
"I say to you all, once again - in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.
It is my belief - and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken - that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst...
Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."
Okay, I am total dork, but just reading that passage again got me chocked up. The world around us certainly is becoming increasingly dark and difficult. Almost every family I know has been "torn asunder" by some form of sin. Satan's influence is everywhere. We're slapped in the face with it everywhere we go. Even though Burke and I don't have TV in our home and we're careful with the places we go and the movies we see, I still feel like we are inundated with immorality on every side. Sometimes I feel so helpless when I think of all the bad things going on in the world that I am helpless to stop.
However, I know that if enough of us say, "Enough is enough!" If enough of us won't buy into the pervasive sexuality and complacency and onslaught of sin all around us that we can make a difference for good in the world. This is totally cheesy, but we can raise "Cedric Diggorys" - seriously! We can teach our children to be good, and kind and brave and faithful and we can be those things ourselves. As I reread that speech, I was inspired with a feeling of hope that there is still so much good in the world. Everywhere I have lived, from Mexico, to India, Paris to Mesquite, I have associated with truly good people. I believe, in fact, that most people are truly good and are as bothered by the immorality around them as I am, but don't know what to do to stop it. I think the most effective thing we can do is make sure the storm stops at our door, that we don't allow Satan's influence into our homes or our hearts. If we can each focus on our own families first, then reach out to those in our neighborhoods and churches and communities next we can make a tangible difference - one person at a time.
Okay, so now that I've totally gone off on a soap box speech, I have to finish my HP #4 thoughts by comparing it to the film which we watched the day after we finished the book. I haven't seen the movie since it came out, but watching it right after reading the book was a total let down. What a flop! They basically performed surgery on the book and removed all the vital organs! Half of the characters are missing and there is so much story to cover that the first half of the movie feels like it's on fast forward. I think by minute 19 we through over 200 pages in the book! And rather than being his warm, wise self, Dumbledore comes across as angry and distraught through the majority of the film. Such a disappointment.
I will say, however, that they did a fantastic job with the dance scene where Ron and Harry finally realize that Hermione is actually a girl, and a beautiful one at that! Also, the Weasley twins cracked me up a few times, the special effects were great in the graveyard, and the guy who played Moody did a good job although his character was altered a bit as well. *Sigh* The movies never are quite as good as the book, are they?
.jpg)
In Chapter 24, Hagrid is heartbroken by the Rita Skeeter article that paints him as a vicious giant and hides away in his hut for several days. I love when Dumbledore tells him, "Really Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time." He then goes on to tell him that he has people complaining constantly about how he runs the school, but he can't let that stop him from doing his job. It made me think about times in my life when I have cared far too much about what other people have thought of me and let it affect my self esteem. It took me a lot of years before I realized it is impossible to please everyone, so you had better make sure you are pleasing the two most important people: God and yourself. If your aims are to please God, you can never go wrong, and if you are happy with yourself, no one else's opinions of you will matter anymore.
This concept clicks for Hagrid as he tells Harry, Ron and Hermione how good Dumbledore has always been to him and how he has always seen Hargrid for who he truly is. He says, "He knows people can turn out okay even if their families weren'...well...respectable. But some don' understand that. There's some who'd always hold it agianst yeh...there's some who'd even pretend they just had big bones rather than stand up an' say - I am what I am, an' I'm not ashamed. 'Never be ashamed' my ol' dad used ter say, 'there's some who'll hold it against you, but they're not worth botherin' with.' An' he was right."
Such a tender monologue and so full of truth. We are who we are. Heavenly Father created each of us as individuals. It's no use trying to compare yourself to others because there will always always be someone who is better or worse off than you are. Be proud of who you are and the talents God has given you.
The most poignant passage in the entire book to me was in the final chapter when Dumbledore is giving his final speech to the students. He tells them directly how Cedric died and what they must do in order to resist the evil and dangers that will surely come there ways. Indulge me for a moment and replace "Lord Voldemort" with "Satan" in a few paragraphs of Dumbledore's speech. Gospel parallels anyone?
"I say to you all, once again - in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.
It is my belief - and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken - that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst...
Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."
Okay, I am total dork, but just reading that passage again got me chocked up. The world around us certainly is becoming increasingly dark and difficult. Almost every family I know has been "torn asunder" by some form of sin. Satan's influence is everywhere. We're slapped in the face with it everywhere we go. Even though Burke and I don't have TV in our home and we're careful with the places we go and the movies we see, I still feel like we are inundated with immorality on every side. Sometimes I feel so helpless when I think of all the bad things going on in the world that I am helpless to stop.
However, I know that if enough of us say, "Enough is enough!" If enough of us won't buy into the pervasive sexuality and complacency and onslaught of sin all around us that we can make a difference for good in the world. This is totally cheesy, but we can raise "Cedric Diggorys" - seriously! We can teach our children to be good, and kind and brave and faithful and we can be those things ourselves. As I reread that speech, I was inspired with a feeling of hope that there is still so much good in the world. Everywhere I have lived, from Mexico, to India, Paris to Mesquite, I have associated with truly good people. I believe, in fact, that most people are truly good and are as bothered by the immorality around them as I am, but don't know what to do to stop it. I think the most effective thing we can do is make sure the storm stops at our door, that we don't allow Satan's influence into our homes or our hearts. If we can each focus on our own families first, then reach out to those in our neighborhoods and churches and communities next we can make a tangible difference - one person at a time.
Okay, so now that I've totally gone off on a soap box speech, I have to finish my HP #4 thoughts by comparing it to the film which we watched the day after we finished the book. I haven't seen the movie since it came out, but watching it right after reading the book was a total let down. What a flop! They basically performed surgery on the book and removed all the vital organs! Half of the characters are missing and there is so much story to cover that the first half of the movie feels like it's on fast forward. I think by minute 19 we through over 200 pages in the book! And rather than being his warm, wise self, Dumbledore comes across as angry and distraught through the majority of the film. Such a disappointment.
I will say, however, that they did a fantastic job with the dance scene where Ron and Harry finally realize that Hermione is actually a girl, and a beautiful one at that! Also, the Weasley twins cracked me up a few times, the special effects were great in the graveyard, and the guy who played Moody did a good job although his character was altered a bit as well. *Sigh* The movies never are quite as good as the book, are they?
Comments