Endings

More than 8 million copies of the final installment of the J K Rowling series on Harry Potter were sold on July 21 in a 24-hour period. I have yet to read any of the Potter series (insert your gasps here), but plan to eventually. I'm overjoyed that this little guy, created in the mind of his author, has spawned a renewed love of reading. Midnight showings of Stars Wars epics or Tolkien trilogies at the movie theater would always draw a crowd, but now, even a nearly 800-page book brings out the night owls.

In a recent interview with Rowling, she stated that the week after she finished the series, she was quite depressed. Her character, Harry, had saved her from a life of doom as a single Mom, and now her 17-year journey had ended. Endings are sad for me. I know before I even begin this series, I'll lament having to see it come to an end. I'm known for my slowness of finishing books, and I think it's some inward feeling of seeing something good come to an end. After much analyzation, I realize that I do that in a lot of areas of my life, not just books.

This past weekend I finished watching Alias - Season 3. Though Alias officially ended its run at the end of the 2006 television season, I am just beginning to enjoy the complexities of this show through the beauty of DVD. As much as I want to start Season 4 immediately, there is this part of me that wants to wait, to savor, the ending of this season, knowing that it's all over in about 44 more episodes. When I finished Season 2 last Fall, it was such a great experience, that I let that one simmer for almost a year. Seeing something great end brings a bit of sadness with it for me.

All things come to an end. Except for one thing...our souls. We will live eternally..somewhere. As a child when I began to think about "How long is eternity?" I remember sitting over my PB&J at lunch one day and not being able to grasp that concept. I got up from the table with my sandwich half eaten and wandered off to my room to think. Everything ended, but eternity doesn't...how does that compute, Dr. Smith?*

I take such comfort in knowing that as a Christian, my life in eternity will be a marvelous thing with no ending. No more will I dread something glorious coming to an end...something more glorious than a Harry Potter book, or a season of Alias.

"And this is what he promised us--even eternal life." - 1 John 2:25

What an encouraging promise. Life without end. Now that's an "ending" unlike any other.

*reference from Lost in Space, a question asked of Dr. Zachary Smith many times