Clothes Line - Edition 205

By Rev. Elizabeth L. Nelson, Pastor

June 5, 2024  

Thursday nights in my dorm at seminary were definitely different. Every other night we gathered in the Common Room at 9pm for Compline, but on Thursday nights Compline was moved to 9:30pm so we could watch Seinfeld at 9! I was reminded of that this morning as I watched an interview with Michael Richards who played Kramer on the program. He’s been out of the public eye since 2006 and he’s written a memoir entitled Entrances and Exits. Quite fitting for him because of the way he used to enter and exit a room on the program. He was incredibly funny and a great memory for me. But his book title hit me in particular because of the events of this past weekend.

On Friday we welcomed a great-grandson into our family. Less than twenty-four hours later there was a death in the family…entrances and exits. It happens all the time, but not always that close together, and the older I get, I do think more and more about the exit.

I was looking at an old church director from many years ago and I realized just how old my friends are getting. The exit is looming for many of us. Do you ever think about your “exit?” When will it happen? How will it happen? Will I have any warning, or will it be sudden and quick? Obviously, there are no answers to those questions, but I thought about looking at our “exit” in a different way. What about imagining it as our “entrance!”

If we believe what we say we believe, we will be exiting our earthly existence, but we will be entering our heavenly home. Does that change the way you view death? If you think about those people who have had ‘near death’ experiences, they all share something in common. They speak of a peace, a joy like no other, as they become closer to “The Light.” And all of them recall the same details: joy, peace, even not wanting to be brought back to their earthly life. Naturally, our human thoughts go to whom we will miss, but in the end the only thing that will matter is what will be directly in front of us: Jesus Himself!

I still have a lot to do on this earth and I hope I will have the time to do it. But if I don’t, I know what’s waiting for me…an entrance like no other!