大象传媒

A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Revd Dr Craig Gardiner, a tutor and chaplain at Cardiff Baptist College.

Good morning, on a day which is known to many people as Harry Potter鈥檚 birthday. The hero of JK Rowling鈥檚 magical world was born on this day in 1980 and fans will celebrate with Hogwarts uniforms, games of Quidditch, and toasting Harry鈥檚 health with tankards of butter-beer.

Some people will think it silly to celebrate the birthday of someone who never really lived. But stories such as Harry鈥檚 may have much to teach us. As the author Neil Gaiman says, paraphrasing G.K. Chesterton, 鈥楩airy tales are more than true 鈥� not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.鈥�

In Harry鈥檚 fairy tale he survives attacks from the evil wizard Voldemort but only because his mother gives her live to save him. This 鈥榖oy who lived鈥� carries a scar that reminds him not only of this sacrifice, but that evil still exists and can be resisted. We too know that great evils such as Voldemort still wound our world, and there was many smaller, but equally pernicious occasions of harm. What we need to be reminded of is that evil dragons can still be beaten.

Beyond fiction and in the face of actual evil Christians have hung to the belief that Jesus鈥� gives his life for a world he loves, and that his resurrection is the assurance that even the worst of evils ought to be resisted and can be overcome.

I know for some, in doing this, the Bible may seem as much a fairy tale as Harry Potter,
and others will disagree,
but either way today might be our chance for overcoming dragons.

Dear God,
Help us to find in you,
The truth that Desmond Tutu prayed:
That goodness is stronger than evil;
Love is stronger than hate;
Light is stronger than darkness;
Life is stronger than death;
Victory is ours through you who loves us.
Amen.