For months our family rolls through the Harry Potter books. David read each book as it burst on the scene, but being the on-time trendy gal I am, I’m just now reading them with the kids. And I’m not gonna lie: I am in love with this story. After each book we watch each movie all wide eyed because y’all, they. are. good.
The below scene from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix won’t leave me alone. It’s not big on drama but interesting all the same. In this clip, Professor Umbridge meets her class at Hogwarts, the school Harry Potter and his friends attend. Obnoxiously perky yet sinister, Professor Umbridge also represents the Ministry of Magic, an organization that – among other duties – acts as “school board” for Hogwarts. The ministry and Professor Umbridge refuse to believe mega evil Lord Voldemort is on the attack in spite of unbelievable evidence to the contrary.
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Sometimes I fret my words here paint me as a long and lanky Professor Umbridge of sorts, minus the sinister part. Even my blog name Chasing Blue Skies risks a Pollyanna tone that’s all sunshiney days at the beach. Life isn’t all that, evil exists in the seen and unseen. I know this. But with my writing and conversations, I strive to make every word point to this: Chasing blue skies means we chase down the hope that is Christ. Evil never has the final say. God does, and those with Him fight on the winning team.
The only useful schooling is that which you can take with you beyond classroom walls. This world holds sharp edges, and so we get our hands and feet dirty, make responsible decisions, and strap on our armor to fight it. We make sure our own sword is sharpened. We refuse to live like ostriches or scaredy-cats.
We recognize the dark but live aware and prepared, more than conquerors. We chase down the Light because He chased death and won.
May His story – the greatest one ever lived – be one we never get over.
What does chasing hope look like in your life?
Welcome to the HP bandwagon, friend 🙂 And thank you for this…the image of chasing hope is a powerful one. For me, it’s clinging to the truths that God never leaves or changes or stops being good…especially when all evidence seems to point in the opposite direction. Sometimes, it’s literally just saying it to myself, or spending time reflecting on what it means to rest in Him (like the picture of the weaned child in Ps 131. Love that image.)
Oh, that’s lovely, Sonika. Love that picture, too. Sending love across the pond to you, m’dear!
I love the correlation you made here with HP! Umbridge is my favorite of the “evil ones”…so perfectly sweet and perfectly sinister all at the same time.
When I think of Pollyanna-ish attitudes, I think of what you wrote – ignoring that bad things exist. To me, “chasing blue skies” means looking for the positive in any situation, no matter how dire it may seem. Not Pollyanna-ish at all. Because chasing indicates actively looking. In the worst times I’ve had, just grasping onto the truth that God is there with me was all the positive I needed to get through.
Oh thank you Liza Lee…I’m glad somebody gets me! Ha!
And I think the same of Umbridge ~ ridiculously opposite personality traits in the same character. JK Rowling writes amazing stuff!