Is 'Happily Ever After' Make-Believe?

“... if the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.” – CS Lewis

“We as writers create happy endings because we want happy endings. But we will never find that 'thing' we are all looking for.” The Oxford lecturer sighed heavily, shifting weight to one leg at the podium. "You see, there is no such thing as an ultimate happy ending. That’s just something we made up to make ourselves feel better.”

Both secular and religious storytellers adopt this mold of a 'happy ending.' But is it merely a rhetorical device we made up to make ourselves feel artificial satisfaction?

Consider how humanity innately longs for meaning to their work, and end to the race; the finale, the conclusion, the ceremony when all is made clear. Perhaps this is not merely because we have it modeled in entertainment; we genuinely expect justice, reward, and payback.

Maybe because it is coming.

This thought hit me during the day the Oxford lecturer drilled happy endings were rhetorical devices. I was ready to stand on my chair and explain why I believed in happy endings. And then …

“Question twenty: What is your idea of perfect happiness?”

It was my turn to answer.

The seated selection of six represented continents, each holding a place at Oxford, shifted.

“My idea of perfect happiness is complete satisfaction: knowing I am right with God.”

“Ah, very nice,” passed the tutor unmoved.

Why should humanity at its core should live short lives in mass delusion only to die unfulfilled? CS Lewis observed, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

People are unsatisfied because they filled their hunger void with plastic confectionaries instead of the Water that has completely satisfied millions of lives who died in anticipation of this Great Reward and are now experiencing the glory of it.

We have “… not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the Lord.” (Amos 8:11)

The horror story is—and it is a true one—many people are not willing to give up short-term sin and their perceived 'independance' in pursuit of this satisfaction for a long-term relationship with God. Not only will it cost them life satisfaction, but their entire eternity.

The good news is, if you choose to follow God, get your hopes up. If we want a happy ending to our character arches, if we want true satisfaction in our days and for all eternity, consider the final conclusion by the wisest man who ever lived: “Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

• “God blesses you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied.” (Luke 6:21)

• “The godly can look forward to a reward,” (Proverbs 11:23)

• “Tell the godly that all will be well for them. They will enjoy the rich reward they have earned!” (Isaiah 3:10)

• '“…he who sits on the throne will give them shelter. They will never again be hungry or thirsty; they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun. For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”' (Revelation 7:15-17)

The question is not ‘does a happy ending exist?’ but ‘is my story going to end ‘happily ever after?’

__

“All in Judah were happy about this covenant, for they had entered into it with all their heart. They earnestly sought after God, and they found him. And the Lord gave them rest from their enemies on every side.” (2 Chronicles 15:15)

“I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?” (Psalms 42:2)

“The one thing I ask of the Lord— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple.” (Psalms 27:4)

“'This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus... Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they are blessed indeed, for they will rest from their hard work; for their good deeds follow them!” ' (Revelation 14:12-13)

*The lecturer and student’s words are paraphrased