What would it be like to have a wild hope rise within you?

Every story has an ending, and with Jesus that ending is “happily ever after”. Everything else until that point is just part of the struggle of the story. Even if you find a source of true happiness, you can not hang onto it. You will always age, things will always wear out, others will disappoint you…I know see the truth in this; the loss of my marriage and the breaking up of my family has awoken me.

The reason we love this world is because at times, it looks like/reminds us of home. At times we catch glimpses of our real home, where we belong. We don’t belong here. We are foreigners in a hostile land. Like Maximus before his return to Rome, like Hercules in slavery, like the Fellowship of the Ring in the Lands of Mordor.

Happily ever after is written on the final page of the story, not somewhere in the middle. We spend our lives trying desperately to live at the end of our story, but stories don’t work that way. The story of my life must be completely written up until the very end before this can happen. This also means that everything I experience is leading up to that glorious, happy, joyous conclusion.

So I desire my story to be like the stories I love, full of magic and adventure and discovery. I want my life to be like that scene near the end of Titanic in which we are shown the pictures of all the adventure Rose had in her life because Jack set her free in every way possible. This means that I am going to have to struggle, fail, fall, experience pain, find light in the darkness, persevere, enjoy happiness while it is right in front of me, set things free, let go, dance and sing when the opportunity arises. I must live the fullness of life at every opportunity even if some things are still undone. It’s like the saying “if you wait until you are ready to have kids, you will probably never have them”. Take a chance and let life in. Live it all the way unto the final chapter.

Which brings is to the way the story ends, the way almost everyone wants to live it right now. Iimagine a story in which the brothers and sisters – the beloved children of the king and queen – have been lost in hostile foreign lands and feared to be dead. As the years pass the gloom becomes a new normal for the royals. The Heir to the throne returned, but that is the only child of the Royal family to have returned. Then one day, the others show up at the gate – tired, dirty, cut and bleeding, but alive and well! Imagine the rejoicing! Imagine how overwhelmed with happiness the king and queen must be! The bells ring in the towers, people are rushing out to hug them and kiss them and welcome them home. A huge party is immediately set into motion with celebrating, and feasting and drinking and laughter and merriment and tears of joy! The children are alive and safe at home! They are now free to roam the lands in which they belong, safe from any harm; safe in their homeland. In THEIR homeland. It belongs to them. This is the scene awaiting us. This is what it will be like to enter heaven.

Pray that my spirit would know boundless joy.