I’ll do my best to avoid spoilers, but beware, just in case. I just finished HBO’s The Leftovers, whose series finale aired last night. I’ve watched this show during its three-year run, and have found it poignant and serious. Needless to say, a show whose premise is that on one day, millions of people around the earth have simply vanished into thin air caught my attention. Its rapture-esque plot only intensifies: the show begins three years after that “Departure,” as it comes to be called. And no clear answers, or even clues, have been provided.
This opening immediately pushes characters as well as viewers into an uncomfortable corner. From the beginning, this show has cast a shadow of despair and uncertainty over existence for these characters. With no clue at all as to why certain people “departed,” why others didn’t, and what would happen, if anything, beyond that experience, the point becomes less trying to figure out “What exactly happened?” Instead, characters—and viewers—are left to contemplate, “What do we do now?” How do we go forward—or do we?
(If you have not watched the show, I will warn you that there is much graphic content.)
As I type these words, I’m reminded of Jesus’ disciples, just before his ascension. “Is now the time you restore the kingdom . . . ?” They wanted to know exactly what had happened, was happening, and would happen.
Jesus’ response: “It’s not for you to know these things. . . . Instead, you’ll be my witnesses to the ends of the world.” Instead of worrying about understanding what had happened, they were invited by Jesus to consider, “So what do we do now?”
This can be extended into most areas of life. Often, a Christian response to a situation or event isn’t characterized so much by the way it puts the pieces together of the “what.” Rather, it invites people to respond to those events in certain ways.
I love that whatever the show might do at the end (I’m not telling…), it has throughout prioritized allowing viewers to remain in the dark. Being in this dark space is often the best vantage point from which to see the light. Any nice, neat answer would be untrue to human experience. So with the gospel.