Ash Wednesday: Scary, Suspenseful, and Spoiler Alerts
Recently, a few random things have connected in my mind to help me hope in the present and in the future. One is how our kids watch movies, one is thinking of some words from Julian of Norwich, and one is the difference between chapter endings and story endings.
We have enjoyed introducing our kids to some movie classics from our childhood this past year, like “Back to the Future,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Karate Kid,” and “Goonies.”
We found some good teaching moments in them – like the difference between scary and suspenseful. Are the emotions they are feeling coming from truly terrifying moments or suspenseful moments because of heightened action and uncertainty of the suspense’s resolution?
This nuanced understanding has affected the way they watch – and enjoy – movies.
Yet another thing we have had to work on with them is spoiler alerts. Sometimes they get so excited about parts of a move – or a way it ends – that they end up giving away the ending to others when they tell them about it.
Knowing the ending, though, helps with enduring – and enjoying – the present.
It’s fun to observe the older two watching a movie they have seen before with the youngest who hasn’t seen it yet. When the youngest starts to get concerned about the safety of the characters through suspenseful moments, they tell him: “Don’t worry, it will be okay. She survives.” While it is a spoiler in some ways, it also helps him stay engaged in the movie when he wants to check out.
Sometimes in reading stories, chapters end badly for characters. We want to – we need to read on because we can’t imagine the story ending in that way. I can’t remember where I first heard this phrase, yet I’ve seen / heard many times recently. “The ending is good. If it’s not good, then it’s not the end.”
I think of the spoiler alert of the Christian story. The Kingdom Comes! Justice prevails. Every tear will be wiped away. Every brokenness healed. All things made new.
When we know this is the end, then we can hope in the present – even if things are bad; even if there is pain, slavery, injustice, and tragedy. We can hope even in these awful circumstances, because while they are bad endings to chapters, they are not the end of stories. The hope Christians have is that even death is not the end of the story. Yes, death creates an end – many endings at times – death only creates the end of a chapter. The story continues because of God’s great love. Nothing is ever lost or forgotten in God’s kingdom, and so we can hope that the end of the story will be good.
After a particularly intense season of prayer in her cloistered life, Julian of Norwich is recorded as saying: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
Today as Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten journey for many Christians. This does not have to be a scary or dour time, yet it can be one full of suspense: How can I allow God to transform my life during these 40 days.
Here’s a spoiler alert so you know the story doesn’t have to end badly. While the chapter of Lent officially ends after the cross when Jesus lies dead in a cold, dark tomb, the story continues to Easter morning and beyond.
There is resurrection. There is new life. All shall be well.
Amen.
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