I see echoes of Christianity in many of the great fantasy series of our day. Is there any connection between these and the Christian life?
Everything that is, is meaningful, insofar as it touches upon the sacred. Each of the great fantasy sagas point to an invisible power that is in someway channeled by special people; people are set aside for the sake of channeling this power as they live their epic adventures. Wizards, Jedi and heroes have power that is meant to serve a greater mission.
In order to express this power in novelized form it is necessary to show their power over the material world to some degree or another. The protagonists are given “powers” that allow them to live out this mission in an admirable way: the Force, spells, remarkable endurance, strength or wisdom. The reason these stories are so appealing to us is the fact that they point to something true in the Christian life.
The power of the Christian is purely spiritual, and it lies in the revelation of the sacred. St. Peter instructed the early Christian community, “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must be holy because I (the Lord) am holy’” (1 Peter 1:16). The Christian vocation is to see and reveal the holiness of God.
The laws governing how we live each safeguard something sacred. The world does not always know that life is sacred, but we do, and so we do not kill. The world does not always know that the transmission of life is sacred, but we do, so we do not manipulate our sexuality for pleasure apart from life. The world does not always know that the elderly are sacred, but we do, and so we honor them. The world does not always know the truth is sacred, but we do, so we honor Jesus as the living truth when we refuse to deceive another. The world ultimately does not always know that God is sacred, but we do, so we have no idols, we honor His name and we keep holy the Sabbath.
The Christian life brings its adherents into the heart of the mystery of that which is truly sacred. We not only have a living relationship with God, but also encounter Him in his innumerable reflections in the world. Our task is not to construct a political utopia, as is the aspiration in Star Wars. Nor is it simply to overthrow an evil tyrant, as in Harry Potter or the Lord of the Rings. The task is to make present the sacred and to walk in the paths of sacredness. Thus the glory of God is revealed in the life of every Christian.
Father Charlie Archer is associate pastor of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis.
