I don’t know when the world will end but I could tell you stories about when my worlds have ended. They would be stories of loss and grief, stories of disappointment and failure, stories of broken relationships, stories of sin and guilt, stories of shattered dreams and hopes, stories of when life seemed empty and bereft of meaning. I’ll bet you could tell similar stories about the days your worlds ended. We all have them.

Every day the world ends for someone. I don’t mean their physical death but that the physical, emotional, or spiritual environment in which they live is destroyed, the web of their relationships is torn, and their world seems barren and desolate.

Sometimes these stories are public. We read and hear about them in the news. The world has ended and continues to end for the people of Syria. In some way Governor Romney’s world ended with the results of this year’s election. Hurricane Sandy has left many with end of the world stories. Other times the ending of our world is a secret kept in the depths of our heart, known only to God and our selves.

The end of the world is your story and my story. It’s the story of every generation and today it is the gospel story. It is a story of cosmic proportions, involving the sun, moon, and stars, the roaring of the seas and the waves. It is enough to shake the powers of heaven. Continue reading “When Our World Ends”