Connected in Story: Chapter Three

In which we begin our new adventure

We started our Lenten story journey by looking at the risk and rewards of vulnerability and belonging through the charming stories of Winnie the Pooh. We learned that without courage, we can not form authentic community.

Last week, Anne of Green Gables taught us about the importance of home, which means both finding our tribe in community, but also being at home within ourselves.

Both stories reminded us that our personal story fits within The Sacred Story of all of history and creation.

I think I’m ready now to step into a story of adventure. I can easily hop into my favorite adventure story, the magical world of Harry Potter. Seriously… give me 30 seconds and one sentence and I can tell you exactly what’s going on and where in the series we are. I’ve read these books dozens of times. Also, I can kick the tail of most anyone who challenges me to a Harry Potter trivia contest.

So in the words of Albus Dumbledore:

Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.

When we meet Harry at age 11, he has survived a terrible ordeal - in his first year of life, he lost his parents to a murder meant to also kill him. Following this traumatic beginning, Harry spends his childhood years living with relatives who don’t want him, unaware of his true identity, bullied and neglected, squashed into a prison masquerading as a cupboard under the stairs.

But all of that changes on his 11th birthday, when a hairy, giant-of-a-man named Hagrid bursts into his life and announces, “Yer a wizard, Harry.”

This unusual proclamation ushers Harry into the adventure of a lifetime. Harry takes his first train ride on the Hogwarts Express which transports him to his new school and the first place that truly feels like home. Once he moves into the castle that is home to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry is sorted into Griffindor House, where he makes lifelong best friends in Ron and Hermione.

Harry could never imagine all that would come to pass for him during the next seven years, but his story parallels the Hero’s Journey, described by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In it, Campbell discusses his theory of the archetypal hero, a journey which he called the monomyth, the idea that all mythic narratives are variations of one great story. Specifically, the Hero’s Journey tells the story of a man or woman, who through great suffering, connects with the eternal and as a result of their sacrifice, brings redemption to their society or community.

Sound familiar? It feels like a story we’ve all heard, and Joseph Campbell would say that we have. In our Bible, Jesus himself lived that story - his great suffering and sacrifice led to the redemption of the world.

In mythology and literature, there are a thousand stories of ordinary people who became heroes. But even in 2021, we see echoes of this archetypal story play out. On a smaller stage, we ourselves live out that story again and again. We live and grow through our own trials, and our transformation leads us to sharing redemption and light with those around us. That’s right, our transformation is a witness to the power of God in the world.

Before you say to me, “I’m not a hero,” let me share how Campbell defines the word. “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” If you follow Christ or seek spirituality in any way, you are someone who has given your life to something bigger than you.

I’ll be honest though. When I’m in the messy middle of a painful situation, I’m not really interested in transformation. Mostly, I just want to stop hurting, to reach the end of the suffering, to go back to “normal.”

In the second book in JK Rowling’s magical series, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore tells Harry, “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

We have choices too. We get to choose how we respond to our difficulties. We cannot control what happens to us, but we do choose our response. I notice that when I choose to look closely, I see God’s presence when I am struggling in a way that I just don’t when life feels easier. I also recognize that when I persevere in struggle, my faith grows, and so does my confidence. So, I choose again today to see God’s bigger picture when I feel caught in my small one. And when I am weary and I can’t see past my pain, I have good friends who hold space for me to cry and feel my feelings for awhile, and then they help me get back up and look for God at work, loving and transforming me.

Our stories are mini versions of the Hero’s Journey. As we suffer and grow and transform, we glimpse eternity, and through us, the world is changed. Sirius Black, another character from the series, tells Harry, “We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.”

Spoiler Alert: Harry ultimately defeats the bad guy who murdered his family. But his story twists and turns, he suffers and he grows, he survives because his friends are by his side, and his sacrifice makes the world a better place.

Our lives get to have that impact too. We have the choice to move our suffering into the light of transformation.

I will leave you with one of my favorite Joseph Campbell quotes:

We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

All of these spectacular photos were taken by Caleb Perry from the illustrated versions of the Harry Potter series, written by JK Rowling and illustrated by Jim Kay.

⚡️Mischief Managed⚡️