Well, I
did it! I finished the New Testament in 40 days. Actually, I finished a few
days early, which—as you’ll see—turned out to be a good thing.
Today
is the last day of Lent. The Triduum begins tomorrow evening. The next three
days are the most sacred days in the Christian calendar. It begins with the
celebration of the Last Supper and Institution of the Holy Eucharist. It
continues with Good Friday—good because of Christ’s atoning death—and
culminates on Easter with the marvelous resurrection of our Savior, which is
the foretaste of our own glorification.
I chose
to read Revelation last because, well, it’s the last book of the New Testament.
Wow. It was like reading a mini-version of The Lord of the Rings. I LOVED it!
If you don’t know, Revelation was written by John while he was exiled on the
Island of Patmos. It records a series of visions experienced by John. A lot of
people have racked their brains trying to figure out to what or whom each of
the symbols refers. It’s hard to say. Some are obviously relevant to the time
in which John lived. But given the plot of the book is the universal and
timeless battle between good and evil, it’s hard to tell.
Personally,
I think Revelation can be fulfilled again and again. It probably will be until
the end of time, when “(t)here will be no more night” and “(we) will not need
the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give (us)
light. And (we) will reign for ever and ever.” (Rev. 22:5) with Christ, “the
Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (Rev.
22:13).” To that I say, “So be it! Lord Jesus, come!” (Rev. 22:20).
I also
think Revelation, with its call to keep faith until that day comes, speaks to
our personal Armageddon—the last battle before the day of judgment. In that
sense, we are all living in the end times, because when we die…well, that’s the end
of time for us! Armageddons come in all shapes and sizes, too. But they all give
us the opportunity to “go on doing good (Rev. 20: 11).”
John
and I have been facing one of these Armageddons since vacation last week.
First, we both broke our phones, which plunged us deep into the bowels of
Cricket Phone Hell. After emerging victorious from there, brandishing new
phones like shining swords, we were confronted with a mouse infestation in our
kitchen. Ugh. John bought mousetraps. I sought wisdom on mouse control from my
peeps on Facebook. Spot, our cat, continued grooming herself. Not a mouser bone in her body. We’re doing everything to make our home uninviting to them
without having to kill them. It’s not
the easiest route.
Still in the midst of
this battle, we were confronted with another attack from the dark side. Halfway through the rinse
cycle, the washer died. Of course, that was the load that had all our
underwear. John found out it couldn’t be fixed, which meant another $$ ding we
weren’t expecting. Plus, I had the pleasure of dragging out every last piece of
clothing from the washer, ringing it out and throwing it in the dryer. This
activity distracted me from the sound of water running in my office, which
turned out to be coming from a broken toilet.
And
yet, somehow, through it all we kept our peace.
Did reading the New Testament in 40 days help? I
like to think so. It was a reminder that
when I set my mind to it, I can do just about anything and face about any
trial. Because with God, nothing is
impossible.
Have a
blessed and holy Easter.
