So You Want To Be A Wizard

I read through a book series which started with the book So You Want To Be A Wizard. In it, wizardry (the power to create magic in many different forms) chooses who it will live in (magic will not live in the unwilling heart is the mantra all beginning wizards learn) and wizards can choose to use their powers for good (to promote law and the conservation of cosmic energy) or evil (to advance the cause of chaos and entropy).

I haven't read the latest book (Wizards at War), but all of the other books are very . . . Catholic, for want of a better word at this moment. They envision a universe with the forces of goodness (wizards living among us who have taken a vow to protect and nurture life) arrayed against the force of chaos and entropy, anthrpomorphized as the Lone Power, the primordial entity who rebelled against life at the beginning of time and who now works to subvert everything that is good in the universe.

In the first book the two main characters (young teen wizards, though the series is not similar to Harry Potter, in case you're wondering!) fight against the Lone Power after accidentaly being sucked into it's own world/parallel universe. Each subsequent book pits them against this Lone Power or some aspect of the Chaos/Entropy it promotes.

What I thought interesting is that in one of the books Kit (one of the the main characters) helps redeem the Lone Power through her actions, her sacrifice, and her courageous love. However, since the Lone Power lives outside of time (theologically speaking, in kairos time, not chronos time), the Lone Power is now always rebelling and always redeemed.

I like that image for us. Since I like to think of heaven as being timeless (see here and here), I can readily appreciate such a construct as a being who is at the same time unredeemed and redeemed. It reminds me of us (people) - we stand on the threshold of being saints and sinners. Everyday we have to make (mostly unconscious) decisions to live a life that we are proud of or one that we are ashamed of. We struggle to define who and what we are in relation to our God, our world and our inner sense of self.

This Lent would be a wonderful time, then, to spend some time in introspection. Instead of making grnad, sweeping commitments and promises of how we would change our lives, I think making one concrete change every day would serve us better.

As the counselor at my school is fond of saying, one random act of kindness every day will slowly make this world a better place (paraphrased).

As an aside, I've been away from my neglected blog for almost three months - one of my Lenten promises obviously then becomes to write more! :-)

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo