In every book or movie in which a character possess magical or otherwise extraordinary ability, there always comes a point in the twists and turns of the plot where we find out exactly what it is.
In Harry Potter, the moment of truth comes right at the beginning. As Harry is on vacation with his aunt, uncle, and cousin, a large man named Hagrid breaks down the door to personally deliver the fateful letter inviting Mr. Potter to join the magical realm of wizards and learn magic at Hogwarts.
"You're a wizard, Harry."
"I'm a what?"
Harry soon discovers that all the strange things that have been happening around him--owls delivering millions of letters to his house, talking to snakes, and making glass disappear--are part of the fact that he has magical blood. Harry Potter is a wizard. And that is what makes him special.
In Fablehaven it is much the same. Used to living in a world of mythical creatures, fairies and demons and centaurs and satyrs, Kendra saves her grandparent's secret reserve for these magical beings time and time again. As the interbook plot thickens, Kendra starts to exhibit extraordinary abilities such as seeing in the dark and recharging magical objects. These abilities don't go unnamed:
"Kendra, you are fairykind. . . .Fairykind are known to radiate magical energy in a unique way." says the Sphinx.
And so another heroine becomes more than a person, becomes someone with a gift, a talent, a superpower, if you will.
Examples are many:
Percy Jackson is the son of an Olympian.
Anakin Skywalker is "the chosen one"
Frodo Baggins courageous takes the ring across the land on a quest while
Vin and Kelsier execute powers and abilities with their mistborn traits.
In every book, every story, every life ever recounted--no extraordinary thing goes undiscovered. If there is any good, it is exemplified. If there is any superpower, it is glorified. It makes us as readers wish we had superpowers, too.
But here's a secret.
We all do. And unlike fantasy, in real life, talents and gifts aren't discovered that way. We may never know the extent to which we are extraordinary. We may never realize that we are special at all. But in fact, we are. And we each have superpowers.
The ability to live and breathe and love and laugh is a superpower.
The will to dream and believe and choose to make things happen is a superpower.
In Harry Potter, the moment of truth comes right at the beginning. As Harry is on vacation with his aunt, uncle, and cousin, a large man named Hagrid breaks down the door to personally deliver the fateful letter inviting Mr. Potter to join the magical realm of wizards and learn magic at Hogwarts.
"You're a wizard, Harry."
"I'm a what?"
Harry soon discovers that all the strange things that have been happening around him--owls delivering millions of letters to his house, talking to snakes, and making glass disappear--are part of the fact that he has magical blood. Harry Potter is a wizard. And that is what makes him special.
In Fablehaven it is much the same. Used to living in a world of mythical creatures, fairies and demons and centaurs and satyrs, Kendra saves her grandparent's secret reserve for these magical beings time and time again. As the interbook plot thickens, Kendra starts to exhibit extraordinary abilities such as seeing in the dark and recharging magical objects. These abilities don't go unnamed:
"Kendra, you are fairykind. . . .Fairykind are known to radiate magical energy in a unique way." says the Sphinx.
And so another heroine becomes more than a person, becomes someone with a gift, a talent, a superpower, if you will.
Examples are many:
Percy Jackson is the son of an Olympian.
Anakin Skywalker is "the chosen one"
Frodo Baggins courageous takes the ring across the land on a quest while
Vin and Kelsier execute powers and abilities with their mistborn traits.
In every book, every story, every life ever recounted--no extraordinary thing goes undiscovered. If there is any good, it is exemplified. If there is any superpower, it is glorified. It makes us as readers wish we had superpowers, too.
But here's a secret.
We all do. And unlike fantasy, in real life, talents and gifts aren't discovered that way. We may never know the extent to which we are extraordinary. We may never realize that we are special at all. But in fact, we are. And we each have superpowers.
The ability to live and breathe and love and laugh is a superpower.
The will to dream and believe and choose to make things happen is a superpower.
Music and dance and sports and art and engineering and history and math are all superpowers.
To be able to love other people--family, friends, even strangers--and to connect a web of relationships throughout the entire globe is an incredible superpower we too often underestimate.
And even better than all these, is the greatest superpower of all: The light of Christ. It exists within each of us, makes us more than who we can be. If this isn't the definition of a superpower, what is?
Though we don't know everything and we don't always discover the extent to which we are amazing; though we aren't witches or wizards or jedis or fairy kind or demigods, we are something even better. We just have to trust in whatever that could be.
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