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In the End....


For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (II Corinthians 4:17)

          I talked to a friend this morning. She mentioned her concerns for her grandchildren and what they are going to face in this world during their lives. I don’t have any kids or grandkids, but as I look toward the next thirty or forty years, I can understand her concerns. It is easy for me to worry about living on my own and the specters of cancer and dementia that may be hiding just around the corner. As I wonder where I’m going to live and what I’m going to do, I know that some of the decisions I have made, and some that I am sure I will make may make life more difficult or even dangerous. 
          But what came out of my mouth was the reminder that they may have huge challenges. Life may be difficult, or worse for them, and for me, but then it will be over, and we will have the rest of eternity. I know, that sounds “pie in the sky, by and by.” It sounds dismissive of the struggles that they might go through, or that I might go through. How dare I treat it so cavalierly?
          First, because of passages like today’s verse that tells me that it’s true. Secondly, because I’ve lived some version of it. Oh, I know my life has been a walk in the park compared to many, but I have survived so far, and I have seen what some of my worries involve (that’s why they’re worries) and most of the time, they’ve led to death. It may be a hard road getting there, but death’s one of the finish lines toward which I’m walking, trudging, and sometimes crawling because after it, glory. 
          And today, at least, that’s freeing. What’s there to be afraid of? The hard things will be hard, and I hope I’ll face them as I’ve faced the hard things that I’ve already endured. But in the end, glory.

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