I generally like happy endings. Some books/movies had endings that shocked or disappointed me. Examples include Middlemarch, Gone with the Wind, War and Peace, and Doctor Zhivago. But perhaps always wanting a happy ending wouldn’t mirror real life. But I have enough experience of real life 😀. For fantasy, I’d prefer to tweak the closing section of such movies/books to have purely happy endings.
One book ending that disappointed me was Alice in Wonderland – the fact that it was all just a dream.
I think we’d all love to think that there was something better than this world or this life. Maybe that’s why we enjoy fantasy so much. But perhaps an appetite for something greater exists in us all – because there is something greater. I think of a verse from the hymn; Great is the Gospel of Our Glorious God
2. Great is the mystery of godliness,
great is the work of God’s own holiness;
it moves my soul and causes me to long
for greater joys than to the earth belong:
And it’s not just internal joy. The Bible speaks of a new heaven and new earth. I don’t imagine that it would resemble Alice in Wonderland – not everything about Wonderland was wonderful 😀. But human creativity is a gift of God, and in the new heaven and new earth, I’m sure that they’ll be greater scope for creativity. Much of the Bible focuses on the fact that sin and suffering will no longer exist, and on heavenly worship. It doesn’t give much on the details of everyday life. But I think of it as all the best of this world, but much better. And I’d like to think that we’d be able to travel through the universe and through time, but that’s just speculation. Whatever we do have will be far greater than anything that I can imagine.
Revelation 21:2-6
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
What if it’s all a dream – a fantasy? Some people even argue that our day-to-day experience of real life is a fantasy. Think of The Matrix 😀, and philosophers such as Bishop Berkeley.
But what if I’m wrong about the afterlife? Well, when I die, I wouldn’t exist, so I’d never discover that I was wrong. But if someone could briefly wake me and tell me that this life is all there is, I’d still be thankful for this life. And I’d be thankful that I wasn’t born a mayfly. They only live for a couple of days. It’s claimed that some jellyfish are potentially immortal, but I can’t see myself as a jellyfish 😀.
But my confidence is in Jesus. If I were trapped in a cave, and some people said that there’s no way out, and someone else offered to lead us out, I’d be inclined to listen to the latter. And if several people had different ideas on which way to go, I’d go for the more credible leader. And in terms of religion, for me, that’s Jesus.
What do I to lose by hoping? Even if I’m mistaken, I can still lead a very fulfilling life in this world by loving God and loving others.
Hibernia Gospel 