The news of the last several years has been pretty dark. First, it was the 2016 election of Donald Trump to the presidency. Rumors of Russian interference in the election as well as Trump’s tendency toward inflammatory rhetoric stoked the fires of division between Right and Left. In late 2019 we heard whispers of a mysterious virus from China, whispers that soon became a deafening torrent of news, opinion, and vitriol from anyone with a speculation and a platform to distribute their unfiltered thoughts—which is to say—nearly everyone in the world. Then in the first months of 2022, as Covid-19 was starting to fade from our minds, Russian invaded Ukraine. That war has now been dragging itself forward for almost two years, but the outcome is no more certain than it was two months in. Then, earlier this month, Hamas tortured and killed innocent Israelis, reigniting controversy about Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians over the past decades. The phrase “No news is good news” appears an accurate aphorism because lately, it seems that the only news is bad news.

Some point to rising global temperatures, increasing inequality, and environmental degradation and believe we are heading toward an apocalypse, while others point to falling infant mortality, rising wealth, and more abundant food and say things have never been better. Who is right? Do the coming decades promise plenty and human thriving, or will we live out our last days feasting on the corpses of other dying civilizations?

When you unflinchingly face the conflict and pain in the world, you can fall into nihilism—nothing matters and all we can do is to live for ourselves while we can. The world is such a wreck, there’s no use saving it; let’s build our compounds and hoard resources for the dark days to come.

Parents everywhere for thousands of years have often wondered, should we be bringing a child into this messed-up world? I’m having similar questions now that our third child will be arriving in just a few weeks. We currently live in one of the safest and most prosperous areas in the world, but things can change. At least that is one thing I remember from my high school history classes.

When I was a teenager, I became slightly obsessed with Middle-Earth, the world that J.R.R. Tolkien created in his fantasy series The Lord of the Rings. It’s been at least a decade since I last read those books, but there is one quote that has stayed with me since then.

In the last part of the story, Frodo and Sam are traveling through the enemy’s land of Mordor—a destroyed and blasted landscape where the skies are always overcast and every breath is poison. They are dragging themselves forward, one step at a time, toward Mount Doom, the only place where the One Ring can be destroyed. At this point, they are physically and mentally hollow, and have even given up hope of returning to their homes alive. It is at this moment that Sam looks up.

“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

In the midst of a terrible land that seemed to be devoid of any good things, and at a time when Sam and Frodo were nearly ready to give up on their mission, the single star was a reminder that their circumstances were only for a time and that there was a force of good that evil would never be able to touch or conquer. That single star gave them hope in a time when their hope had died.

As followers of Christ, we should not be surprised at the headlines. We have been promised that in the last days evil men will wax worse and worse—deceiving and being deceived. There will be wars, famines, diseases, and earthquakes, but Jesus told us to not be troubled, for the end is not yet.

The news reminds us that we live in a fallen world. But, there are clear white stars in our lives that tell us there is something better to come. A snuggle with my boys on a cold morning, a good meal with friends, the birth of a child. These things help us remember that our shadowy world of pain and sin is only a passing thing.