Other mythologies also had strong, brave, and intelligent gods. From India to Egypt to Greece, worshipers believed their dieties to be the most worthy of adoration because the gods would always be gods. There was no forever for the Norse gods though. The end of the gods was hardwired into the mythology.
Ragnarok was coming.
Their virtues didn’t matter.
Odin’s wisdom would not be enough to avoid it.
Thor’s strength would not be enough to stop it.
Frigg’s compassion would not be enough to prevent it.
Tyr’s bravery would not be enough to hold it back.
Heimdallr’s heightened senses would not be enough to protect the other gods from it.
Loki’s trickery would not be enough to change it.
Idunn’s youth would not be enough to delay it.
Forseti’s pursuit of peace and justice would not be enough to subdue it.
Ragnarok would be their demise.
There were no other alternatives. The Norse gods were destined to fall. They were imperfect and jealous of each other. They argued and held grudges. They won battles but also lost battles. Yet the Norse people honored them. They revered their doomed gods. They knew their gods would die and still remained devoted.
In our modern world, I don’t know how many of us would stay hopelessly loyal to a guaranteed lost cause.
Growing up in the Christian faith, I was raised to believe in a God who was omniscient, omnipotent, & omnipresent. Infinite knowledge, infinite power, and infinite presence. The God I was taught to worship was defined by love, compassion, justice, and mercy. This is the God of all gods, the one who spoke the world into existence, an unchanging being who would reign for eternity. Scripture assures the living God to be perfect and undefeated. However, scripture never promised perfection and success for mortals. We believe in a God who could intervene on our behalf, but the intervention is never a sure bet.
We are flawed and broken. Stubborn and impudent. Greedy and vengeful. Human nature is host to the whole spectrum of good and evil, vice and virtue, success and failure.
Norse peoples were promised gods who would fail. Christians are promised a God who would succeed. Meanwhile on earth, we are promised neither. Instead we are given a choice. Do we follow the bandwagon and hitch our hopes to the best chance of victory? Or do we follow what we believe to be right even if it ends in disaster? Success is never stipulated.
Authors with a completed manuscript are not guaranteed a book deal.
Scientists are not guaranteed their theories will be proven.
Painters are not guaranteed their master work will ever be sold.
Teachers are not guaranteed students who pay attention.
Students are not guaranteed good grades.
Police are not guaranteed they solve crimes.
Criminals are not guaranteed they will evade arrest.
Prosecutors are not guaranteed a favorable jury vote.
Politicians are not guaranteed an electoral win.
Your religious faith, political leanings, gender, financial status, ethnicity, sexuality, physical ability, and social standings could help or (depending on the situation) hinder your chances but none of it guarantees anything. Failure is always possible.
For a decade, I’ve been fighting a battle that often feels like an inevitable defeat. The way I’ve been treated, described, slandered, and maligned frequently casts me as the loser. It’s taken a serious toll on both my physical and mental health. Sometimes it seems the giant I face is too big to defeat and I’m fresh out of stones for my slingshot.
Yet I trudge onward. I remain devoted. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do. Because the stakes are too severe for me to give up. If the Norse believed in Gods who were a bunch of losers, if first century Christians believed in a flawless God who could save them from persecution even if it never happened, I can hang on. If there is a chance of failure, no matter how probable, there is also a chance of victory.
My hope isn’t in a promised destruction nor is it in perfect divine holiness. My hope is in the possibility of that which is never promised. I hope to win but realize I could lose.
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