2216AFC042222 – The End of the Beginning of the End
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Revelation 1:17b-19 – … “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades. 19 Now write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this.”
Revelation 1:8 – 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Gr. Παντοκράτωρ – pantokratór Hb. שַׁדַּי Shaddai)
John 1:1-5 – 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace and Peace to each of you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus the Christ, in the Power of the Holy Spirit. This is a pretty strange title, que non? What is “The end of the beginning of the end?” Let’s start at the right side and work to the left: THE END: It is hard to quantify that because the End of ALL has been imminent for over 2,000 years (since Christ) and a similar idea was found on an Assyrian tablet dating from about 2800 BC!! That covers about 6,000 years of waiting for the Big One that brings this whole folderol to an end. But is it really silly nonsense? “All good things come to an end.” That’s reasonable; we can see that happening all the time. But isn’t it also true that “All bad things some to an end,” too? Granted, many bad things do end badly, but not all. Some good things can end badly, too – political maneuvering comes to mind. Based on what I see in religion, history, civics, politics, and Scripture I’d say that just about everyone believes the planet and everything in and on it will be destroyed – take your choice: Global warming, nuclear war, alien invasions (the extraterrestrial kind, not the political kind), loss of mantel integrity with volcanoes and earthquakes, and even massive asteroids smashing us to smithereens. But that’s not really the issue.
The issue is, “OK but what happens after that?” Isn’t that the point? By faith we either believe there is something that comes after The End, or we believe the end is The End. Pascal’s wager not discounted, we hope there would be some sort of reward for all the personal and communal suffering we’ve had to endure. Is The End really just The End?. In my own Hope and Faith I say, “Certainly not!” I just can’t prove “certainly” empirically, and that is why is it called “faith and hope.” I firmly believe this world will end, and that The End will likely be a messy affair. (↔ Click Link) Turning again to Hope and Faith, I am banking on not being around when that Big Messy End comes about. Still, there is going to be an end. That gives rise to another issue: When?
“Any time now,” is the best I can do because “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (See Mark 13:32 or Matthew 24:36) Here is a list of predictions: [1] Now. [2] Later. [3] Some other time. [4] God knows but He’s not tellin’. I pick #4 because it’s Scriptural. In summary, there is most likely an end and it will occur most likely at a non-specified time with or without contributions from earthlings and/or other creatures, or perhaps from some outside contributions. What goes up must come down – what begins must end. If the universe is expanding, will entropy ultimately be The End? The best available advice is “Wait and see, but don’t get hung up on it.” Now let’s look into the meaning of “The Beginning of The End.”
That’s actually a bit easier to understand. There’s always some “tipping point” we must not go beyond. I heard recently that “If we don’t change our ways by the end of the next three years, we will reach a point of no return, and Earth’s ecologies and structures will collapse.” That would be “The Beginning of the End.” We could go to our calendars and write something like, “August 23, 2026, The Tipping Point was Exceeded and Earth’s ecologies and structures collapsed.” Oh, it probably won’t be instant annihilation – Earth’s ecologies and structures have been in constant collapse for millions of years (or 6,000 years if you buy into that view). What we find in Scripture (and not just Judeo-Christian Scripture) is that it’s likely to be sudden. Here we find it useful to STOP (please) and read Matthew 24:3-31 which we have cited previously. (↔ Click Search Link) See especially Matthew 24:8 in that passage. As I see it, we’ve been at The Beginning of The End for millennia. Recently, though, I’ve been thinking-feeling-seeing what looks like The End of that Beginning of The End.
We certainly have plagues upon plagues, famines, wars and rumors of wars, atrocities ranging from human trafficking to genocide, persecutions of Christians and of other religious entities around the world, ecological and structural changes in the earth and sky (“signs and wonders”), and in all of that one has to wonder, “Am I living in The Last of Days?” Well, for me, I certainly am I suppose. I’ve unpacked my life and laid it aside just waiting for that Long Slow Train Comin’. (↔ Music Link) Here’s the deal, and I hope you’re not going to get a burr in your saddle about this, but I all comes down to the APP. I want you to hark back to 1845AFC110918 – Once is Enough. There we find this Key Verse: Hebrews 9:26b – But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. IMPORTANT: USE THIS LINK ì TO SEE THE PASSAGE IN CONTEXT. You see, The End is already done. Sin is death and death has died. We still sin, we still have our personal, mortal death to get through, but the APP says it’s all over but the Resurrection – and that’s where that Train is going. That post (try reading it, there’s plenty of good stuff there) ends like this: There is a long train coming. God may not throw us off the train, but that doesn’t stop us from deciding to jump off before we get to the depot. I live by this motto: Put your faith where your future is. It’s all going to catch up with us some day. Thank God we have his Divine Mercy (↔ Click Media Link) so we can deal with all of it.
This Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday (↔ Click Link). On the Second Sunday of Easter of the Jubilee Year 2000, at the Mass for the Canonization of St. Faustina Kowalska, Pope John Paul II declared the Sunday after Easter be called “Divine Mercy Sunday.” (↔ Click Link) I remember that! (These days it’s remarkable that I can remember breakfast, much less something that happened 22 years ago!) This image is the display on my home-screen on my phone. The lock-screen is one of my favorite renditions of The Sacred Heart of Jesus (↔ Click Link). Now, someone will doubtless ask if I worship those images or pray to them. The answer is “NOPE.” They do remind me about my commitment to “Full-Time Christian Service,” (↔ Click Link) Later, in 1977, I made another special full-time commitment to remember and honor Jesus’ Sacred Heart in our home in Los Alamos, NM. In 1978, Crucita and I decided we would “spend all our money (both of our dollars), and get Christmas presents for everybody – including us. My Christmas present was a copper bas relief image of The Sacred Heart. (↔ Click Link) We bought it around December 19, 1978. On December 21, 1978 we got a call from the adoption agency we’d been working 
with: “We have a baby boy for you to take home. Can you come pick him up tomorrow?” At that time we had no money (plenty Christmas presents though), no crib, no diapers or bottles, no baby food, nothing a baby needs. We really went shopping! We loaded up our little blue Matador Coupe with all of that (even an ironing board!) and set up a baby room. For us, in those circumstances it was The Beginning of The Beginning.
We were just barely into our 30’s and it took ten years of trying before our first kid came along. Then, in 1981, a daughter showed up. We started another Beginning, and – as with all persons in all places in all times – things kept changing, and we kept getting closer to The End. Nonetheless, we were not, are not, will not quail about that. Have you ever noticed this phrase in these essays: “God’s Perfect Integrity, Endless Mercy and Eternal Salvation” somewhere in a post? God’s Perfect Integrity → “The Lord, your God, is One.” (Deuteronomy 6:4) God’s Endless Mercy → “His Mercy endures forever.”(Psalm 136:1-9) “And Eternal Salvation.” → (John 3:16-19) Recently the Holy Spirit revealed something else I should add to these “core characteristics.” Can you guess what it is? Here’s a hint: 1 John 4:19 and 1 John 4:8 . Yes ʻŌmea – it is LOVE, for God IS Love. When I consider God’s Wisdom and Love, Power and Restraint, and ponder the magnitude of his creation, these four things – Integrity, Mercy, Salvation, and Love – represent, to me, the core of his Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Omniscience, and Omnibenevolence. He is most certainly I AM WHO AM. He – THEY – have always been in charge in the Triune Glory of Eternity.
The End of the Beginning of the End is at the proper place in their Absolutely Perfect Plan. Since it is Absolutely Perfect, there is nothing we can say about it, do about it, or think about it that God-In-Three-Persons omitted. I am completely at Peace with that – I am held in Peace because: John 14:25-27 – 25 “I have said these things to you while I am still with you.26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” HIS Peace becomes MY Peace. I do not hold my peace. I am held in Peace. I don’t have to worry, don’t have to fight, I don’t feel left alone. I have Jesus who is All I need or want because he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 – 21 For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; 22 for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. (↔ Music Link) I have, you have, we have that promise because Jesus took on every sin, every moment of pain, every abandonment and turned it into Glorious Praise to God Our Father. Jesus did that …
F O R O U R S A K E.
There is nothing left to end or begin. It is all in God’s hands all the time. His Divine Mercy takes care of everything start to finish because it’s the Absolutely Perfect Plan – AND WE’RE PART OF IT! If you’re not 100% sure of that, please read 1 Timothy 4:7-10. (↔ Click Link) It is time to get right with God and neighbor. Please read Romans 13:10-15 then do this: Repent, therefore, and believe the Gospel.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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