And the Sorting Hat sends you....

We all know I am a nerd.  This much has been established.  I embrace it.  Being the nerd that I am, undoubtedly I love love love Harry Potter.  What nerd doesn't?  Well, a few months before my mission my friend and I came up with the greatest Gospel-Harry Potter analogy ever!  Here it comes.



Let's begin with the sorting hat.  When students enter Hogwarts, they need to be sorted into a house.  The Hat sorts by judging each student's qualities and placing them in the most appropriate house.  When we come to the judgement bar before God, we too will be sorted into the appropriate Kingdom.  "1And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good."  Not everyone lives the same sort of life.  None of us live a strictly black or white life.  Ergo, we aren't going to either point A or point B (aka, Heaven or Hell).  So, where do we go?  Well, just like Hogwarts, you can go to one of four places.



The lowest and least liked of all the houses in Hogwarts is Slytherin.  According to Hagrid "every wizard that's ever gone bad was in Slytherin."  As for the lowest we can go after this life, it is outer darkness.  A place very few will go because you have to pretty much try to get there.  "2Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever.  And now I say unto you, that mercy hath no claim on that man; therefore his final doom is to endure a never-ending torment."  Need I say more?  It is not a "degree of glory" rather it is the complete absence of light.  There is no good whatsoever in outer darkness.


Next up is Ravenclaw.  Not bad actually.  They are known for their smarts and intelligence.  Funny enough, I have found that there are people out there that want to get to heaven strictly based off of knowledge then by faith.  "3Now, as I said concerning faith—that it was not a perfect knowledge.... Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge."  Over and over we hear that we are to learn "4line upon line, precept upon precept."  The kingdom for those that didn't receive the gospel of Christ nor a testimony of Jesus is the Telestial Kingdom.  It is the lowest of all the Kingdoms and  yet, still has some light from God.  Just not very much.



Hufflepuff is the next in line.  Known for being hard working, patient, and loyal; not too shabby.  Honorable people “5who were blinded by the craftiness of men” will inherit the Terrestrial Kingdom.  It is a more glorious place than the Telestial Kingdom, but not the brightest.  They will receive the brightness of the Son but not the fullness of the Father.  It will be a glorious place for some very good people, but the best place is still to come.



"The House of Godric Gryffindor has commanded the respect of the wizarding world for nearly ten centuries (Professor McGonagall)."  For all true Harry Potter lovers, you know which house we all aspire to be in.  Hands down it would have to be Gryffindor.  Brave and true and always there to fight for good.  Greatness always seems to come from those in Gryffindor.  So too should we all strive to reach the highest Kingdom, the Celestial Kingdom.  Those in this kingdom will dwell forever in the presence of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.  "6They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given...These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood."  The Celestial Kingdom is the reward and promise to those that have spent a lifetime in righteousness.

I know that all of us can reach the Celestial Kingdom and live with God.  It is my ultimate goal and can (and should) be yours too.  I love my Savior and know He makes this goal attainable.