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“In the End” It Doesn’t Even Matter (Linkin Park) There’s a great deal of folly in saving now in order to live later, certainly as far as the out-ofbalance approach some people take in living their lives. The generations old approach of working hard right up until retirement age to enjoy the (short) spoils of retirement, has not only made a return it’s morphed into ‘work your guts out to retire even earlier,’ and greed drives it. Mortgages and material possessions are acquired at break-neck speed for these people—and then there’s the midlife heart attack or stroke (or some other health condition) to look forward to. It may seem an exaggeration but how many spend most of their lives away from their families to earn their squillions? Linkin Park have nailed this prospect in the chorus of their haunting song In the End. This is how it goes: I tried so hard And got so far But in the end It doesn’t even matter I had to fall To lose it all But in the end It doesn’t even matter For mine, people will continue their own sweet, unbalanced way of greed and acquisition-at-anycost until they “fall, to lose it all.” And this is after possibly decades of getting it wrong—how demoralising. Jesus talks about remaining alert and ready in Matthew 24; none of us knows when the Lord will come, only the Father (v. 36). He will come in the night like a thief (v. 43). The event and circumstances of our deaths will always be a mystery. Indeed, the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21) propounds this most powerful truth. The rich farmer produced an amazing crop and was troubled for a place to put his ‘abundance.’ In tearing down his small barns to build bigger ones his plans bargained on living perpetually—and certainly not dying. He didn’t account for the ever-present possibility of his death. “God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose Copyright © 2007, 2008, 2009 S. J. Wickham. All rights reserved Worldwide. May not be used without permission.