Not the End

As a culture, we are drawn to darkness.

The dark and the dead grab our attention.

Our two month obsession over the holiday 

we call halloween confirms this,

with revenues expected to be over $10 billion.

The haunted house industry, costumes,

yard decorations, party supplies,

horror, zombie, vampire books and movies

all contribute to this 

cultural celebration of darkness.

Even nature has mimicked the theme.

Summer flowers are withered and dried,

and once colorful leaves have turned brown

and dropped to the ground.

It looks like death has won the day.

It is actually part of human nature to be 

comfortable with darkness and death.

After Jesus was buried, the three women

went to His tomb "while it was still dark."

They were not afraid to go into a tomb in the dark.

But it says that when they found Him gone,

"they fled trembling, bewildered and frightened."

Resurrection is mystery.

It is so important that we remember

darkness and death are not the end.

They are the signposts to rebirth.

While our culture is currently glorifying death,
the Lord is wrapping every dead looking thing
in light, declaring over it, "Not the end."
Whether it is a dead looking tree
or a dead looking dream,
He comes to remind us that
everything is about resurrection.
Within the dead looking thing
lies the mystery of what will yet be.

It is not the end.

Image: www.pinterest.com/pin/514184482426535492/