"And when it's morning, the sun will rise."

I'm slightly embarrassed to admit it, but I really like The Hunger Games trilogy. At least, I enjoy the first one a lot. I'm quite attached to the characters, and consequently, I enjoy the second. Like many readers, however, I've had a hard time figuring out what I think of Mockingjay, the series' conclusion. After seeing the movie, I re-read the first two books, then skipped to the last chapter of Mockingjay on a whim, and found myself sobbing through the ending. For the next 24 hours, I couldn't really think of the ending or of the song lyrics in the book without tearing up, which was both perplexing and embarrassing. Finally, I had to sit down and write out why the ending affected me so much, why it was so painful--perhaps painful in a good way, though. I'm going to share my thoughts with you.

I have to admit--I really love the characters in the series, so their pain has a strong emotional impact on me. But more, I felt like the end of the series said something about my life, about the cost of being alive and of loving people, and about the fact that I cannot ever reverse the clock or go back to when life was simpler. But I'm beginning to realize that that is well. Moving forward hurts so much--to be alive means to lose, to suffer, and to die, in one way or another. Perhaps that's why the song lyrics Suzanne Collins includes in the books affect me so much. They're at once about love and comfort and loss and death, about the heaviness of living in a sinful world. And in some sense, that's the heart of the series--a much deeper heart than I had previously realized, and a much heavier one.

The ending of Mockingjay hurts  because it reminds that you can never go back. In character terms, back to Peeta's totally untainted love for Katniss. Back to the days when Katniss wasn't so badly broken. Back to when hte family and community were intact. The dead will not return, and for those beloved people, the meadow will always be a graveyard, although their children will play in it as innocently as they did, once upon a time. The dark has left its mark, although the sun still rises.

But against this grief sings the truth that the Son has risen, and He is alive forevermore, and He holds the keys of death and of Hades. He can waken the sleepers deep in that meadow on the day when the night is overcome at last by eternal dawn. And He will truly wipe every tear from our eyes, every scar from our souls. And faith, hope, and love abide. There, in that moment, as in all places and all times, is the place where He loves us. And that love casts out fear. Forever.
When I read the lullaby central to the series, deep down somewhere in my worldly soul it evokes a longing for heaven, my true Home. The characters cannot go back to their days of innocence and peace, before their home was destroyed, and neither can I. Hope lies in moving forward.