I love stories with that wrap-up, but as many as I’ve read, the only one that is non-fiction is the story we’re living. ‘Ever after’ means eternally and only God could, in truth, provide that outcome. He has written us into His story, put the whole thing together in a way that even we can participate, caused to happen everything that was above our paygrade (and everything was way above our paygrade, just so you know), set us up with irreversible, unstoppable royal privilege, gave us His family name, chose to endow us with His Spirit. In short, He’s given us the corner on the eternity market. His story becoming ours stretches the imagination to such a degree that belief-gaps appear as we attempt to grasp the enormity of what now is true of us. These ‘fault lines,’ tragically, provide the ideal conditions for God’s archenemy to slip in and wreak havoc in our souls! Oh, how he can wreak havoc in our souls! And he uses the same line he first used in the book of Genesis: “Did God really say .  .  .?”, or more contemporarily, “Are you sure he meant that for you?” These perversions of God’s very character dishevel us as they did Adam & Eve and lead us astray into doubt and fear and questioning the noble heart of God the Father. 

And with that as our pitiable condition we arrive once more at Palm Sunday with its magnificent symphony resplendent with a majesty and perfection as God alone could have orchestrated it. From a merely human perspective, of course, it looked like anything but success. But from a divine perspective, the Song was reverberating so gloriously that all nature was in sympathetic vibration, like piano strings at the touch of a maestro. This year, even in the ongoing grip of shared, global, multi-faceted, angst-producing dilemma, let’s not allow ourselves to miss the Kingdom’s extravagant in-breaking, the stellar synchronizing of Old Testament prophecies, Jesus’ use of unmistakable symbols signaling the approaching annihilation of sin’s dominion and the triumphant cry: “ .  .  . and they all lived happily ever after.” Can’t wait to gather together with y’all, celebrating ‘what is’ tomorrow at 10 AM.  PD

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