In the first book, Harry finds a mirror that allows him to see his now dead parents looking down on him. He is comforted and sits in front of the mirror for lengthy stays again and again. Finally Headmaster Dumbledore comes to Harry and encourages him to move forward in life with the above quote.
In the New Testament dreams play a major role in moving Joseph, the father of Jesus, to take action. He first is told in a dream to not worry about the consequences of marrying Mary after she has proclaimed she is pregnant. After Jesus is born he is again told in a dream that his family is in danger and he needs to leave the country and go to Egypt. In both cases he obeys the dream’s directive.
Harry was stuck in a dream of ‘what if’ and Dumbledore had to gently coax him out of it into his real life. Joseph, on the other hand, was in a different type of dream, a dream encouraging action. He had to decide to obey the dreams or not.
That is the key after all, isn’t it? Dreams, especially dreams of what you want to have happen in life, aren’t really of much use unless you act on them and make them real.
Life doesn’t happen in dreams, life is only imagined in them.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by J.K. Rowling, British author, 1965 – not dead yet. Quote spoken by Albus Dumbledore in ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’.
Some interesting notes on the writing of Harry Potter:
- You probably know that J.K. Rowling thought of the idea for the books while on a train trip. But did you know she did not have a pen with her? She was too shy to ask anyone to borrow one so she sat and thought the entire story out in her mind for 4 hours before getting off the train and getting to a location where she could get a pen and start writing it down.
- You probably know that the much of the story was figured out before she started writing the first book. But did you know she actually wrote the last chapter of the entire series at the time she wrote the first book?
- You probably know the manuscript was rejected by many publishers. But did you know it took 7 full years from the inception of the idea on the train until the actual publication of the book?