Not the End

I love when November rolls around.
Our two month obsession with
Halloween is finally behind us.
I am not “against” Halloween.
It’s just that in some ways, it feels like a
cultural celebration of death and darkness.

Even nature seems to join the celebration.

Flowers have withered and dried, and

once colorful leaves are turning brown

and dropping to the ground.

It looks like death is winning the day.

There are things in my own life seeming to 

mimic all this, dreams that seem to have 

withered and dropped to the ground.

But it’s important to remember that

darkness and death are not the end.

They are the signposts to rebirth.

And to the mystery of resurrection.

During this season, 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.