“What’s Really Going On?”

Recently Judy and I stumbled across a TV series that caught our interest called “Person of Interest”. “The series centers on a mysterious reclusive billionaire, (Mr. Finch), who has developed a computer program for the federal government. It predicts terrorist acts  and everyday murders. Finch hires John Reese (Jim Cavieze), a former special forces soldier and CIA operative, to be his field agent in preventing everyday murders. I have to say it’s somewhat addictive. The actors are likeable, there’s a lot of suspense, and the good guys generally win. While I’m not sure the heroes will always get an “A+” from the Catechism, I think Finch and John do pretty well. I have to say that I thought I was pretty cool when I mentioned to my kids that we had found this new exciting series and you should take a look at it; they yawned and said it came out in 2011, 15 years ago. So much for Mr. Cool.

Okay, so you may wonder “why mention a 15 year old show on your famous and trendy BLOG?” Excellent question! Well I have to confess that Judy frequently interrupts the show asking “what happened to this guy, is he really dead, or does  Carter like John, or boy that Lionel is funny – is he really a bad cop, or there’s too much suspense–I have knots in my stomach.” Well, being somewhat of a Sherlock Holmes, I had earlier discovered that often an episode would end with a number of loose ends, questions that may get answered a few episodes later or may never be fully answered. The writers always keep you thinking and wondering. They keep you off balance… providing more questions than answers.  It’s pretty exciting. It keeps me sharp; I think it helps me look sharper when I visit my neurologist.

I was reminded of this show the other day as I was thinking how Jesus in the scriptures often kept everyone off balance…. he kept you thinking and wondering,  “what’s going on, what does he mean with that parable, why isn’t he more direct in his responses, why didn’t he heal that person, why didn’t he hear my prayer. And yet, if you keep reading and keep wondering, and keep living, often you find the answer in another chapter, or maybe thru the sharing of a friend or pastor. Sometimes the answer comes in a few days, yet maybe not for a number of years, or perhaps you’re still waiting at the end of a long life. 

So what’s the point of this BLOG. Well, despite our desire to always know the answers, life just doesn’t work that way. Whether it’s watching a mystery on TV or trying to understand the mystery of your own life, we often don’t know all that’s going on. But with Christ, we can have confidence that when the final episode of our life is completed, we will know all the important answers. And the answers will be perfectly satisfying, fulfilling all the desires that God has placed in our heart. Truly, all will be well with our soul. And that is very good news.