“They say of some temporal suffering, "No future bliss can make up for it," not knowing Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory.”
~C.S. Lewis

So many times I am asked why I studied Classics and Philosophy in college. Besides the obvious answer of “it interests me”, I have a hard time articulating the lure of these disciplines. Yes, I was introduced to Latin and Logic at a very young age and found that I was good at them. But again it goes deeper than having a natural bent towards languages and analytical thinking. Part of the reason lies in my conviction that a person schooled in the Classics is a person who is articulate, investigative, multi-dimensional and a critical thinker. These are fields that encompass literature, writing, history, logic, politics, anthropology, psychology, and sociology. When you study Classics and Philosophy you study every pillar that bears the weight of our modern society. 

And yet there’s a more personal reason still. Studying Classics in particular, allows me an opportunity to study our world as a story. When we delve into history we have the unique opportunity to see our lives as part of a story. You begin to see how one event led to another, which caused something else, and turned in to something great or something terrible. It’s as though each generation is carefully authored to play an important part in the story of life. Looking into history is a way for my faith to be strengthened—it is a way that God reminds me, and all of us, that He knows how the story ends and that He is in control.

One of my favorite authors, J.R.R. Tolkien, a Classicist himself,  talks about the concept of a “eucatastrophe” in his essay, “On Fairy Stories”. He explains eucatastrophe in this way:

“…it is a sudden and miraculous grace: never to be counted on to recur. It does not deny the existence of dyscatastrophe, of sorrow and failure: the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of the deliverance; it denies (…) universal final defeat and in so far is evangelium, giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief.”

Read that again: the possibility of [dyscatastrophe] is necessary to the joy of the deliverance. That is powerful to think that tragedy is used to make the deliverance so much more sweet. That is probably why stories of eucatastrophe leave lasting meaning with countless readers. The two most familiar eucatastrophes that I know of are “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings”. The pages of these sagas are marked with tragedy, but the deliverance at the end leaves each reader with a satisfaction and acceptance with each tragedy.

But what Tolkien and I are talking about isn’t a simple happy ending. What makes the book so valuable and complex is how all of the trials, persecutions, and heartaches fall into place to bring about the joyous end. As you read through stories of this nature, you wonder why certain things happen and how it will all end, and in the end it all clicks. To me that is the essence of a good story. That is a satisfying read. I don’t need to read “and they lived happily ever after”. I want to read that both because of and in spite of their hardships, they lived at peace.

But still my interest is fueled by more than just a good read. I’m fascinated because I feel like I am living in my own story. The hard realities of life are all around me. Thankfully I have so far been spared many heartaches, but there is still death and destruction surrounding each and everyone of us. We hear about wars and bombings, we see pictures of oil spills. We read about school shootings and missing children. These things are tragic, but my faith tells me that these are just pages of the greatest Eucatastrophe of all time. Paul wrote to the Romans of the same thing:

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience […] And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

Studying the things that I did in college, particularly Classics, I was able to look back on the chapters of this great story that have already been written—that is history. Studying different, and particularly ancient cultures opens your eyes to fascinating story that we are living. A great Author is using each day, each event, each decade and century to create the most tragic yet beautiful story. We are but characters in this story and can’t see anything much bigger than ourselves, but through history, we have been granted the smallest window into the mind of the greatest Author of all time. This strengthens the patience we need to anxiously await the glory promised to us.

So whenever I see the entropy everything good around me, I watch with sorrow yet anticipation for that joyous turn of events. I long for that moment when we see the completed story and understand that all of the tears and broken hearts had purpose…and that purpose will bring a joy so much greater than the pain we endured for so long. Paul adds to the Romans a few sentences later,”What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us who can be against us?”

There is so much to anticipate in this Story. Sometimes it’s so easy to be distracted by the battles around us, but remember that those are only chapters in this Novel, and the end has already been written by that same God who stands for us. And “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us” (8:37), we just have to wait with patient anticipation until the end of the Book.