Who wrote the NIV?

I'm currently listening to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on my drives to and from work. Today I drove home crying over that beloved little house elf, Dobby. I also spent a good deal of time thinking about the importance and symbolism of Harry digging Dobby's grave by hand, and what happens to him while he is down in the earth. While he is in the ground, he realizes a lot of things, and when he comes back to the surface, he has released his obsession with the Hallows. He experiences a death--the death of his hope for the Hallows, and his hope to be Master of Death. He has released his hope that he can defeat death by never dying, and he instead turns back to pursuing the horcruxes--the quest Dumbledore bequeathed him--which will ultimately lead to the laying down of his own life. He resists the temptation to defeat Death by becoming it's Master, and makes the first step in the process of defeating Death by dying. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." Harry's temptation to use the Hallows reminds me of the temptation of Christ. Last week was Temptation Sunday (the first Sunday of Lent) so this subject is fresh in my mind. Satan comes to Jesus and basically offers him the easy way of accomplishing what he was sent to do. He can save the world by not dying...He just needs to bow down to Satan, and then all the kingdoms of the earth shall be his. In the same way, Harry is offered the opportunity to defeat Voldemort by not laying down his life. But it must be through death that death is conquered.

I was telling Sean some of these ideas at dinner tonight, and he listened, and agreed with me, and then said, "But Care, you forget, you shouldn't be reading Harry Potter, all it teaches is sorcery and witchcraft." Sean has recently taken to looking up websites and YouTube videos by KJV-only activists, who insist that the NIV was written by the Antichrist and should be called the HIV, because it spreads infectious disease. They also believe that television is "Hellevision," that Beauty and the Beast condones bestiality, that the Pope is the Vicar of Hell, and, of course, that Harry Potter is Satan himself. At best these sincere people take themselves just a bit too seriously.

Tonight, Sean, Matt, and I went to the Little Old Bookshop on Greenleaf in Whittier. We got an email saying that the bookstore is struggling to stay in business and they were having a sale this week in hopes of staying afloat. The email--written by a Torrey chum--ended by saying that every time a bookstore closes, a piece of Western civilization dies. Although I am fully able to recognize the melodrama of this statement, I can also see the kernel of truth which it contains. So, we went off happily to do our small part in saving Western Civilization, and bought $60.00 worth of books.

Arms overflowing with books, we ran down Greenleaf to the car, and sped away in order to make it back in time for Lost. Sean made some questionable driving moves, including--but not limited to--passing someone on Biola Avenue...but we made it back in time, and ran like madmen (and women) into the apartment in time to see, "Previously on Lost..." But in Lost news, I am feeling quite deserted, abandoned. Sayid Jarrah has been my Rock for five seasons of this roller coaster of a television show, and tonight, the Rock crumbled--the ground was taken out from beneath my feet. Who do I trust now?!?!