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DiggIn God's Time
In the beginning was the Word. But what about the end? Perhaps the surest observation about the end of the world is that it will be part of God’s mystery, just as it was in the beginning.
Nevertheless, when we neglect thoughtful consideration of the end times, we are perhaps missing the point that the way we view the end influences the way we live our lives now. The end matters, often in a profound and enlivening mix of the practical and idealistic. And yet eschatology is characteristically treated as the domain of either professional theologians or novelists and screenwriters. The conversation is frequently clouded by fears of a violent God choosing the blessed for heaven and leaving the rest behind.
There is a different vision — one that starts with you and me as agents of God’s reconciling hope. It is a vision that may be hard to see: a city upon a hill where unity reigns, where enemies bury their swords, and where we understand that Christ came for the sins of the whole world, not just a few.
This vision of fulfillment has power. Thinking about the end gives us the chance to remember that God’s future is unfinished. The kingdom is yet to come. And so in the knowledge that it will come, and that we will play a unique role in bringing it about, we live in joy and in hard work becoming partners in divine mystery. We build up. We integrate. We love all, addressing our every thought and action to God.
Being created in God’s image and love brings a paradox of great comfort and great responsibility. The final word is love — a love that extends the invitation of God’s fullness of life to all. This was true in the beginning, and it will be true in the end.In the beginning, God. At the end, God. The alpha and the omega.
Faithfully,
The Reverend Dr. James Herbert Cooper, Rector
This letter appears in the Eschatology issue of Trinity News , the magazine of Trinity Church-St. Paul's Chapel.
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