THE EMPTINESS OF THE POTTERWORLD & THE ABUNDANCE OF CANA
St. Margaret’s Church
Moshi, Tanzania
27.01.2002
Readings: 1Kings 17: 8-16 & John 2:1-11
Emptiness Of The Potterworld
One of my New Year resolutions was to read Harry Potter - Book 1. I am proud to say that iit didn’t take me too long to put the resolution into action. I have immensely enjoyed reading Harry Potter & Philosopher’s Stone. I impatiently wait for the movie version to arrive in our part of the world.
What led me into this “Pottermania”? I was intrigued by the reports in the press, including the 5 page write-up in Time (Nov 5, 2001), similar write-ups in The Tablet and other email news deliveries.
I kept wondering what was all this fuss about? No doubt, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, is no mere fiction. It is literature. Still, why so much excitement? From the making of a $125 million movie to the commercial tactics of Harry Potter toothbrushes? Over 100 million copies of the books have been sold; and Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, fourth in the series, published in 2000, holds the record as the fastest selling book in history. Even a certain Anglican Pastor, Francis Bridger has written a spiritual reflection on the story in his A Charmed Life: the Spirituality of Potterworld. Now you see the fuss?
Harry Potter -Book 1 is a story of a “Cinderella-type of a boy” who has magical powers. He is taken to Hogwarts to be taught the art of magic and witchcraft…from potion making to flying on broomsticks. In Hogwarts, Harry Potter not only discovers his own history but becomes a hero defending the Philosopher’s Stone from the evil Lord Voldemort.
Despite some beautiful aspects in Harry Potter, looked from a cynical point of view, it is not much different from the Famous Five, Secret Seven or Hardy Boys. Yet the series is a sensation and J.K.Rowling is now an international celebrity. Yes, the story is the usual conflict between good and evil. But the difference is that Potterworld is a world of the mysterious. A world of owls and dragons, spells and portions, magic and witchcraft. It is the world of the spiritual of another kind! Similar phenomena if it were to be described by Africans we would call it primitive and uncivilized!
Coming from the East, having lived in Africa for ten years, and being a teacher of Philosophy of Religion, to me the fuss over the Potterworld is a symptom of the spiritual emptiness of the Western world.
It is an emptiness that only Christ can fill.
The Abundance Of Cana
Even in Cana initially there was an emptiness. “They had no wine.” The low-grade wine provided for the feast was all spent-up. And the feast had become an embarrassment.
There were also six stone water jars, standing there empty. We are told that these jars were those used for the ablutions that were customary among the Jews.
By this, evangelist John seems to tell us that the Jews of Jesus’ time too experienced an emptiness, much like the people of the potterworld! Their emptiness is symbolically represented by the empty water jars. Their laws, customs and rituals didn’t satisfy them. That is why, they didn’t bother anymore about the ablutions. The six mighty jars for such a small home stood empty.
And they had no wine. In the Bible, wine represents love, happiness and celebration. For the ancients, a feast without wine turned immediately into a funeral: no songs, no dances, nor cheer.
To this emptiness Jesus brings in an abundance. “Fill the jars with water”, he says. And they filled them to the brim. To the brim! In the presence of Jesus there is no emptiness. Only abundance. Jesus now orders them to draw out of this abundance. There is plenty now. And what a wine. There is happiness now. There is celebration.
John concludes the narration with the words, This was the first of Jesus’ signs. It was at Cana in Galilee. In the gospel of John Jesus performs seven miracles, which are called signs. Jesus reveals himself through these signs, and still we need faith to recognize that here is the Messiah!
The miracles are the signs of the abundance of the presence of the messiah. There is no scarcity as Jesus is there. There is no emptiness in the Kingdom of God. In other words, only Jesus can truly remove the emptiness of the Potterworld.
We all need a filling
I think sometime or other we all experience an emptiness in our lives, and in our selves. We keep trying to fill our jars with different types of wines… And these attempts leave us more empty than before. We need to recognize this emptiness and let Jesus fill this emptiness and we can be sure He is going to fill it to the brim.
A spiritual experience that I keep revisiting is a spiritual retreat that I made prior to my Diaconate Ordination. It was a guided retreat, which means, you are mostly on your own except for half an hour interview with the Director. On the first day my director asked me the usual question: “What does the Lord want you to do at this moment of your life?” I had gone to the retreat with my mails to clear and a book to read. Now when the director asked me that question, what does the Lord want…. I thoughtlessly answered, “I think, the Lord wants me to learn to pray.” He said, “If you have come with some other work to do, let it wait for some other time!” And he directed me to pray with a sentence each every day. I began with, “Be still and know I am God.” (Ps. 46:10) I enjoyed praying. I was very calm indeed. The second day I used, “You must increase, I must decrease.” (Jn. 3:30) I found a lot of satisfaction. I was truly happy and proud of myself.
The third day began with a very strange feeling. A sort of dryness. A feeling of inability. A feeling of being out of control. I was discouraged. But when spoke to the Director about this, he simply said, “Thank God that you have been touched by the grace of God. Yesterday, the whole day you have been praying that ‘He must increase and You must decrease’ and today you have really been decreased. Stay with that feeling. It is good for you.” At that moment I felt like crying! I felt humbled and touched.
Later during the day the image that was coming to me in moments of prayer was that of a baby in the womb of the mother. Totally dependent, faceless, and in dark. This was humiliating for me - usually a very independent, proud and bright person! There was also another image. I felt that I was a well that had a lot of water on top, but deep down it was empty. This was again very telling.
I came to realize, without being told, that here was I in the threshold of priesthood, but deep down within me I was empty. I was in fact just nothing! I had joined the seminary during my school days, when I was just 12. And I was pushed year after year through the different stages. And suddenly when I am 29 I realize there is a vacuum within me. I knew I was filling this emptiness with my books, my intellectual gymnastics, and my philosophical career! I felt too that now it is time to allow Jesus to fill me… up to the brim!
To fill, he did fill. On the last day, the image of the baby in the womb had become a baby strapped onto the back of the mother. Peaceful, and calmly sleeping - a scene that is very familiar in this part of Africa. And the well that was empty within, now was gushing forth with water. Springs of water pouring into it from all directions. It was an experience that I cannot simply express in words. I knew very well that I was not imagining. It was real. Waters gushing forth right into my self… filling me… overwhelming me. I felt healed and refreshed.
Conclusion
I would like to conclude by going back to the Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone. I did acknowledge that there are some beautiful images in the story. One of those beautiful things is the Erised mirror (Erised is ‘Desire’ spelt reverse). When anyone looks at himself or herself in this mirror they would see their deepest desire. One night Harry Potter sneaks out of the dorm wearing the invisibility gown and starts scouting around a bit. He runs into this mirror. He sees himself in the company of his parents. Being an orphan, being in the company of his parents was his deepest desire.
Let us ask ourselves what are our deepest desires? If you gazed at the mirror Erised, what would it show? The awareness of our own emptiness would be the clue to our deepest desire.
My own desire this morning is that we invite Jesus to fill our emptiness with his abundance. That we enjoy His best wine.
(Fr.) Sahaya G. Selvam SDB, Don Bosco College, P.O.Box 8955, Moshi.
Email: selvamsdb@hotmail.com
