I aspire to be Photina: Begin Badly, End Well

Last updated on: May 8, 2018 at 2:59 pm by John Mark N. Reynolds

I aspire to be Photina: Begin Badly, End Well 2018-05-08T14:59:48-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

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She is the woman at the well, who met Jesus who told her all she ever did. She began badly and ended well.

We are odd in thinking the start is best. It is the end that is the measure of a person, what they have become, out of the accumulation of choices. A good start is valuable and we hope we gave this to our own children, but the end is better. The Greek sages were correct: call no man “happy” until he is dead.

The woman at the well met the man who told her all she ever did and who still saw hope for her. Jesus knew and Jesus loved her and gave her a tomorrow. The hope of heaven is not for treats without end, though we will have treats without end. The hope of heaven is that we will have a timeless eternity to undue harms we have done and to do good. Of course, this does not wait for heaven. We begin by turning from our bad behavior and doing good. We do not just move on, we go higher.

Every culture gives up on some people. That’s not good . . . Except when it is. People who will not be wrong have no hope.

If you will not be sorry, then (perhaps) we must give up on you or at least ask God to help you, but if you take your medicine, change, and go forward with Jesus there is always hope. Nobody is left behind. Nobody is excluded. Greatness can come from anyplace and the end does not have to be the beginning. That does not mean errors at the start do not matter: they do. In Christ, the trajectory matters. Photina started badly, ended well.

God help us.

Shakespeare said of greatness that some are: “born great.” This is true. Some of us were born with advantages: if you born an American, you won the historic lottery. Thank God. If American, then blessed, but with great blessing comes great responsibility.

Now what should we do? What will we do with our privilege of being blessed?

Jesus blessed those who gave thanks. We must give thanks. Yet this is not enough if we follow Jesus. Everyone has someone they wish excluded, but Jesus excludes no category. If you wish to have gay sex, then Jesus says: “No. But I love you and wish you to finish well.” If you wish to oppress the poor, then Jesus says: “Never. But I love you and wish you to finish well.” Father Seraphim Rose, of blessed, even saintly memory, began struggling with homosexuality and ended a voice for Orthodoxy. Saint Elizabeth, new martyr, gave up the privilege of a princess to work with the poor of Moscow. This is the godly pattern.

This is my aspiration as a human being. God help me.

May I end better than I began.

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Thanks to our pastor, Father Richard, for giving me hope.

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