It’s one thing to start well. It is quite another to finish well. We can all think of figures in the public realm – in politics or the arts or sport – who made an impressive-looking start, only to finish in shame and disaster.

In the world of mining, it’s often the deepest mines in the most challenging places that yield the richest treasure. And sometimes it’s like that with the Word of God. Sometimes the places where we have to do the most digging and work the hardest give us some of the greatest spiritual reward.

Loneliness and isolation seem to be increasing markedly at the present time. In general, as a society, we are more alone than ever – that has been a trend for some years. The more time we spend on devices on social media, the less time we seem to spend with people. According to Statistics Canada1, 4 in 10 Canadians report feeling loneliness and isolation during the pandemic.

In the midst of a worldwide pandemic, and with images of war flashing across television screens, the world has plenty of despair to go around and not a lot of hope to spare. Life is pretty tough for many people, much of the time – and then eventually all humans die. This is the reality of the human experience in a nutshell.

The heartfelt cry, “It’s finished!” could be taken in two different ways. It could be taken as a cry of defeat. It could reflect a life tragically cut short, and the admission that goals will never be reached. It could speak of a promising venture that goes bankrupt, and the CEO conceding to his team that the dream is dead. On the other hand, it could be a declaration of success.