It Can End Well

Last updated on: February 27, 2015 at 11:35 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

It Can End Well 2015-02-27T11:35:29-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

If you were Henry, everything started splendidly and ended badly. He was born King of England and much of France. He died in the Tower of London murdered by his successor. He outlived his son, went mad, and manifestly was unfit for the job of ruling Medieval England. He would have been an ideal constitutional monarch, but lived in a time when he had to ride and fight.

He was good at praying, founding schools, and being a decent chap.

Whenever I curse my chances, I recall Henry VI, a figure so trapped by fate and unfit for his role that the young Shakespeare could not write him a good line in three plays, and I realize that there are worse things than not getting what I want. I might be Henry VI: start with what I want and then lose it.

This is oddly cheering to me. Nobody can escape hard times and failure, not even kings and the “lucky.” Knowing this makes the injustice and troubles of life somehow bearable. The problem with them is not that they are undeserved, of course they are often undeserved, but that I view them as a “problem.” They are sad . . . wail and weep. The late Medievals did not repress their emotions and nobody should hold a party when sent to the Tower of London.

What is it that I expect?

Justice? This side of Paradise nobody gets justice (thank God) even when they deserve it. It is our world, we broke it, we keep trying to fix it, and when we finally make it a total epic failure, our time will end. Fortunately, none of us is stuck in this world for very long.

What is it that I expect?

Justice? The other side of death everybody will get justice tempered with mercy. Grace is freely extended to those who will receive grace and all the accounts will be settled. There will be no gratuitous pain left because eternity will work all of it out and redeem it. Every crooked thing will be made straight. Rough places will be made smooth.

That is certain.

Henry was no great king, but his suffering, including his bouts of madness, taught him saintliness. And this gift is available to me now. They can throw me in the Tower, but they cannot take my chance to love God from me. No culture is so degenerate that Holiness is not available simply by looking up to the stars. No terror can take my peace away if my peace is in Jesus.

So I can be sad, very sad, and yet content: Jesus is King. He knows. He keeps accounts and to His credit He will judge with mercy and grace: everyone, me included. They say (and who really knows) that as he was in prison, good King Henry (so weak a ruler, so ennobled by suffering as a man) prayed this prayer:

O Lord Jesus Christ, who has created

and redeemed me,

and hast brought me unto that which now I am:

thou knows what Thou wouldest do with me:

do with according to Thy will,

for Thy tender mercy’s sake.

Amen.

Jesus had redeemed Henry and was redeeming him. It was not God’s will that Henry come to the Tower or be stabbed. Evil men chose freely and badly, but God was not caught off guard and used His omnipotence and unlimited time to bring good to Henry. In this sense, God brought Henry to the Tower because what Edward the bloody upstart meant for evil, God meant for good: for Henry, for Edward, for England, for all of creation.

The calculus of the cosmos where the action of every agent, the choice of every animal, and the free will of every being is all seen, taken into account, and bent toward goodness is so great that no man can reckon it. We do not know most of these choices, not even those of human agents. We cannot see.

Henry knew because reason had taught him (God bless Medieval logic!) that God was in control. He was bending history to justice and had eternity in which to make it so.

I know it too. Evil is still evil and always will be, but God will bring the greatest possible good out of it.

A guide once told me that Henry died at the wrong time. If the Reformation had not come to England so quickly after his death, Henry VI would have become a saint of the Catholic Church. Perhaps this is so. It fits Henry’s life that he missed out (again) on public acknowledgment and honor. He only left his prayer, Eton College, and an image of a good man who ruled badly, but died well.

God save good King Harry. . . and me, for Thy tender mercy’s sake. Amen.

Spiritual Reflections

Previous Post

February 26, 2015

On Hating IS and Loving People

Next Post

February 28, 2015 Help me, Spock!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does Paul tell Timothy to do with myths and old wives' tales?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Have nothing to do with them Refute them Correct them Ignore them

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »