“I didn’t think it would end this way,” Pippin says to Gandalf, as the siege on Minas Tirith is heard just outside.
“End?” Gandalf asks,
“No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take…”The end. Death. Our readings over the next couple of weeks point to these themes, where we are moved to reflect on our own mortality and what comes next. In the Gospel of Mark, we hear Jesus say:
"In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken."
Like Pippin, we may these words and say, “I didn’t think it would end this way.”
But Jesus goes on to say:
"And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with
great power and glory…”
Jesus fell in battle at the Cross and it seemed that all was lost. But it was only the beginning. Our current reality may seem to end in desolation, but our hoping guarantees an experience of Christ’s glory.