Harry Potter and God Like Powers

No, Harry Potter does not have god like powers. I am excited about seeing Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince which comes out some time this week. I am a huge fan of how the book ended, it's great when you're immersed in a story and the author is skillful enough to really make you care when something awful happens like someone dying. It'll be great, and if you know the story, this poster will probably give you just a little bitty shiver:



Pretty cool. So back to god like powers...I was thinking a bit about this funny little machine that sits on a table in our kitchen, a machine that has changed the way we live, that would cause the best minds 50 years ago to role their eyes, and the most imaginative minds to drool.

The microwave.

No, just kidding. I'm talking about my laptop. How ridiculous is it that I can multitask, absorbing information from dozens of news sources, reading the musings of friends all across the country and communicate with people all around the world, all from my kitchen table. I am a perfect example of how easy it is to squander this power. I am embarrassed to say that the majority of my time online is spent researching movies (ahem...see above), watching the trailers for these movies, and playing silly games.

The internet is a complicated place. You can skim along the top, using email and Facebook without realizing the potential there is, or you can dive in and be absorbed into the limitless flow of information. There is a risk in diving in, as it is just as easy to get lost in uselessness, to be tempted to places that lull your brain to complacency as it is to find connection with global and life deepening reality. The historian David McCullough spoke at our commencement back in May. He pointed to the fact that facts do not equal wisdom. I agree that we can "learn" all we want but without the maturity and intentionality to turn that knowledge into wisdom, we are fooling ourselves.

Yet this knowledge, the knowledge of what is happening around the world and the knowledge of how people are thinking about these things is crucial. It is crucial so that I can be equipped to appropriately engage the world. Our ability to connect with the world through computers, laptops and cell phones, while ridiculous, can serve to help us find meaning in what is happening all over the world.

t Living in this hyper connected "global village", with constant internet access, sometimes seems like we are sharing god like powers. This would be a great time to quote Spider Man's Uncle Ben. "With great power comes great responsibility!" like powers. Sorry, Spidey, you must be so sick of hearing that. Could these god-like powers lead us to be more God-like people? I believe it can, but I can attest to how easy it is to lose perspective, to spend hours playing games and reading about movies when there is so much more!

Okay thats enough musing for tonight. I still have yet to figure out what exactly these blog entries will be about. I will continue to experiment. Perhaps tomorrow I will talk a little more about what I've been reading in Matthew. As long as I find some excuse to involve Spider Man, then I'm golden. Cheers.