Endings

Don Aucoin (a member of UCC Medfield) has an interesting article in the Living/Arts section of the Boston Globe today. Entitled, "The End," this article addresses the last show for the Sopranos and the last Harry Potter book that will be released in July. He notes that we tend not to do endings very well, and this is not only true for us individually, but it is also true for the last TV show, or the last book.

One of self-observations and observations of others as a pastor and a psychologist is that we tend not to like endings--we don't like to say "good-bye," because as Don says, "The words 'The End' are so pregnant with portent..." When I was growing up, my father's company transferred him about every three years. I actually liked moving to new places around the country, but I didn't say good-bye to my friends very well. I liked to sneak out without saying it, in fact. I have encountered many others who act similarly.

When you think of it, saying "good-bye" is a kind of death. With rare exceptions, most of my friends in those places I have never seen again. One of the things that we often say is, "see you later," or something to that effect, even when we are well aware that the likelihood of that is remote at best.

Don highlights an important aspect of endings. He writes,

If narratives are constructed around a beginning, a middle, and an end, the special function of The End is to give shape and definition to what came before, to cast a backward light that illuminates the whole, while remaining true to the characters, to the spirit of the saga, and to us, the readers and viewers...to control the end is to control the story..."

He is referring explicitly to the TV show or the book, but I think it applies to the stories of our own lives, as well. from a theological point of view, if the gospel of Jesus is true, then, in a way, we know the end of the story. If Jesus is truly resurrected and the first fruit of what will happen to us, we know that we will be resurrected as well, that God's kingdom will be established completely one day. We already, then, know the end of the story, and can live our lives in the light of that ending. It frees us to live our lives in the here and now, in spite of the fog of not knowing many things, of the "mystery of iniquity" as Paul writes. Nevertheless, knowing the ending gives us the courage and trust to follow Jesus.