If you could change the ending of any book, which one would it be?
When we think of “books,” we usually think of stories—fictional tales or the lived histories of individuals and even the world. I’ve noticed that Romeo and Juliet is perhaps the story readers most desperately want to rewrite with a happy ending. However, if today’s prompt refers to the broader scope of history—personal or global—I would have no desire to change it. As the saying goes, not even God can rewrite history.
For fictional stories, though, I would gladly rewrite tormented romances into happy ones, turn the wicked towards repentance, and make evil bow before righteousness.
Yet I find it curious that people are so eager to write biographies of others, while easily overlooking the need to write their own. In relationships, we often try to change the likes and dislikes of our children, our lovers, or our friends. But as I gathered my thoughts, one book in particular came to mind: my own autobiography. We are the captains of our own lives. While we should take heed of wise advice, we must never surrender the pen of our destiny to others. Still, I believe that living my life is far more important than writing about it.
As a Christian, I trust that Christ Jesus is the Lord of Life—the light and strength who guides my journey. Yet He leaves the living of that life to me. I am not eager to author my own autobiography or to write anyone else’s biography, because I know that recording all lived lives—genuinely and completely—belongs solely to the sovereign power of Almighty God.
With that in mind, I recall a poem I wrote that echoes this call to live wisely today. It captures the tension between striving and yielding, and perhaps offers a glimpse of how we might reach a beautiful ending.
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✨Life • Living✨
Life is not living, nor living is life.
A life without living—yet no life lived.
Life does not belong to oneself,
But living is a choice of one’s own.
Brocade robes, woven with hidden snares.
When passion’s play ends, we sigh at the void.
To strive, to yield—both hard indeed.
A pure heart attained brings joy to God.
A striving life may leave its mark in history.
The pure and still are written in sacred scrolls.
Before the curtain falls, to strive or yield—
It is for you and me alone to choose.✨
en yan hua fang 