End Game

In the short term the bad guys seem to win more than the good.  It seems to be the way of the world, causing more than one good soldier to consider what he or she needs to do to win.  Given the measuring stick it’s hard to deny the facts.  Manipulators achieve great things.  Exploiters bask in their riches.  Lying represents truth.  This is a weird world!  Could truth not be all that it represents?  Maybe fairness isn’t what it seems.  Honesty and integrity may have their place but are they the center of our lives?
 
I believe the view of who wins is often a short sighted lens.  In the near term evil will always be competitive with compassion.  In the initial steps, before the transparency of history, manipulation can seem merciful.  In actual fact the best you can do in the face of either is “wail!  [Because] God's Day of Judgment is near—an avalanche crashing down from the Strong God!” (Isaiah 13.6)  Goodness will win, and not because of force or manipulation.  The end game results rest on two simple facts; communities are always stronger than individuals and Divinity’s has played the game out through the ending – and Evil was evil in the eyes of the universe.
 
Until life today gets to the end the question will always seem open.  We walk with others yet we often walk together alone.  We live in communities yet often our “worlds” are usually virtual not physical.  We carry values yet we often forget what they are.
 
I’d like to suggest a different approach.  Let’s carry our values into the morning sun.  Let’s give our priorities time to see the light of day.  We can bring both together, struggle to keep them fresh and visible, walking in solidarity – these are the steps which move us into the ultimate end game! 
 
Life is a difficult place, confusing, hard, and dangerous.  It may seem as if there is no way to win, yet there is.  We are members of a special community with Divinity as its first resident.