The Sense of an Ending

Life is short, and we can accomplish only so much. Much of what we do will remain unfinished. For now. In one of my favorite short stories of all time, “Leaf by Niggle,” author J. R. R. Tolkien provides us with a fascinating idea of what we might be doing in the next life. And it is not floating on clouds playing harp music! It is an unforgettable story about Niggle, a man whose passion is painting trees. The only problem is that Niggle is too distracted to paint the whole tree; he spends all his time painting leaves. He is never satisfied with the leaves he has painted, so he works on them…