The Cracked Acorn: Writing

When our sons were in grade school and discovered the joy of writing, I asked them to write a science fiction story for me. They gave it their best! The result was quite a story of space ships, green aliens, and villains with big teeth. There were the good guys and the bad guys and of course the castle with the deep dark forest close by. I read it and praised them for a good job. Weeks later, I asked if I could see it again. No, they had thrown it into the trash and not to be found. Little did I know that we may have passed up the chance to be millionaires.

You would have to be on Mars or totally out of touch to have missed the stir about the J.K.Rowling’s Potter series of fantasy witchcraft books. These have made her the richest woman in England. It all started when she, a single parent, was forced to support her infant daughter. While her child was napping, Rowling started writing the first book at a table in a cafe. The books soon to end with the seventh one are now in most bookstores, schools and libraries. They are being applauded for being the catalyst to spur the 8-18 age group into a pell-mell race to grab the first edition at a price of nearly thirty dollars. Reading has jumped up 31% and has made reading “fun.” Many have tried to explain this reading surge translated into the languages of over 200 nations. Much has been written in the newspaper and on internet analyzing the interest among our young people in the Potter books. Books on magic and fantasy have been written over the years and are now cluttering the shelves of the used book stores. None have ever created a crazed reading stampede as these books.

What are the glaring short comings of the Rowling’s series? – God is not mentioned at all as the supreme being. Heroes have all the power and fly around on magic broomsticks and cast spells. A sinister being appears in the form of a gigantic snake. The main character’s mother returns from the dead in the form of an animal. Many put all this aside in the justification of these books and now movies as being sheer unadulterated brain floss entertainment and that’s that! This is one time the experts agree that too much exposure to this kind of entertainment “desensitizes our society to the occult.” This could well be the “straw that broke the camel’s back” for many of our youth who really can’t handle one more peer driven pressure driven activity. Australia has already tried to place warning labels on the books when placed in the local libraries.

Remember the drive to place the TEN COMMANDMENTS into the schools. The first commandment is: THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME.(Exodus 20) We have to keep this is mind that God has not changed because thousands of years have passed. HE has also said from brother Paul,” ,”And now, brothers, as I close this letter let me say this one more thing, Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others.” (Phil. 4:8)