It is a cold grey June day here in Northern Ireland, so much so it is hard to believe in just a few weeks many of our wild adventurous missionaries will be finishing up their 10 month training with us. Some of them will be packing up and leaving our shores to pursue new adventures while others will be traveling home to visit friends and family before returning to serve our communities for another year.
In the past, during these weeks I have often talked about finishing well. Metaphors like the strong finish of an athlete picking up the pace towards the finish line, have been well trodden. But this year, as I wait, uncertain how many weeks our family has left in Northern Ireland my train of thought has taken a slightly different direction.
I have always loved fiction, I particularly enjoy those stories that captivate my imagination so I am compelled to read on. Those stories that you pick up just to read one chapter and before you know it your half way through and its the early hours of the morning. The full stop (or period if you are reading this over the pond) at the end of those chapters is like an invitation to unravel a little more of the story.
Since the dawn of time I believe a story has been unfolding. A story of a gloriously incomprehensible entity setting the universe into motion and extravagantly demonstrating boundless passion for the world that ensued. It is a story that we all engage with, knowingly or unknowingly. It is a story of passion, peril and redemption culminating with resounding victory. It is this infinite story that weaves through our lives stitching them together with the chapters of the lives of those who have gone before us and those who will come after us.
The full stop at the end of this chapter of our lives is an invitation for the next chapter of His story to unfold. Unfolding in our own lives as the scenery changes and new characters emerge. But we can also be confident it will continue to unfold in the scenery and characters lives that we leave behind. In this way, I think the art of finishing well is wherever our adventure leads recognising our story joins with one that weaves through eternity. We build on the layers of paragraphs and chapters thousands of others have written before us and the paragraphs and chapters we leave behind pave the way for thousands of others to continue writing after us. Our stories are all connected and so the truth is the end of a year like a Pais movement apprenticeship isn’t really the end. It is a full stop at the end of one chapter but an invitation into the next chapter of our story, His story and another’s story.
So, how can we make that full stop the most captivating invitation to be continued?
“Praise the Lord.
I will extol the Lord with all my heart
in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
2 Great are the works of the Lord;
they are pondered by all who delight in them.
3 Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
giving them the lands of other nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.
8 They are established for ever and ever,
enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He provided redemption for his people;
he ordained his covenant forever—
holy and awesome is his name.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.”
Psalm 111 (NIV)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Because-Youre-Loved