endings

On Thursday I wrote a bit about new beginnings. As I've reflected on things since, I've come to see that with new beginnings often comes the end of something. It can be the end of something big or the end of something small. But for something new to begin, we often have to let something else end.

As much as I struggle against allowing something new to begin, I struggle more with letting something end. I don't like change and when something ends that means things are changing. Besides that, ending something means saying good-bye to it.

But if we never let things end, we'll find there are no new beginnings. Or that many new beginnings won't really take root because there isn't enough room for them the grow and flourish. We have to let things end so those new beginnings can happen.

In my own life, I've found that the most important thing about allowing something to end is that I do it well. If my time serving in a ministry is coming to an end, I give it the same level as before right up to the end. I don't stop doing things I said I would - I keep commitments to the end. That is the way to let things end well.

Ending aren't always fun. Sometimes they're hard because we don't want the end to come. But endings are a necessary part of life. And we need to learn how to end things well.