Magician

I have always been attracted to magic and fantasy books.

I realized today the reason why.

It is because I am a magician.

I have the power to imbue objects with holiness and also to imbue them with impurity.

My actions directly impact and affect my own fate and possibly even the fate of others.

I can uplift sparks that have fallen to earth.

And to accomplish these things, I must live a rigorously defined and delineated life, in which my diet, dress, habits, thoughts and desires are strictly controlled.

I am one of the chosen, one of those born with the gift of magic. Is it Lily's fault that it was she and not Petunia who was allowed access to Hogwarts? Should Lily then apologize for being chosen? I think not.

It is a gift, but like all gifts, its use is disciplined. Its cost is high. And its power is astonishing.

When we teach our children and they recoil at being told they are Jews and chosen and therefore must obey the laws of the Torah, let us frame it a different way.

Let us tell them they are wizards and witches and therefore must listen to Dumbledore. At least if they wish to have any hope of defeating Voldemort. And they must trust in him, no matter how maligned he may be.

They will be challenged along the way. But that is how it should be.

Only in overcoming oneself (for Harry, dying when he wishes to live) does one achieve greatness.

Your path is the path of justice and also of salvation.

When you are born into this world, the question is...will you rise to the occasion?

Will you be a magician- or not?

Too many throw away their gift, overcome by the long, hard years it takes to master it, the rigorous control and discipline, the difficult tests, the arduous work. They determine that the cultivation of their gift is not worth the effort. They have not yet met the Alannas of the world.

Be an Alanna. Nurture your gift.