"Every Exit is an Entrance"

“Every Exit is an Entrance”

Recently, the series finale for the situation comedy, Frasier, aired.  The final segment of the show was entitled, “Every Exit is an Entrance.” Each of the five main characters exited a very comfortable place in his or her life and entered a new chapter.  Roz Doyle, the radio show producer, becomes the boss as she assumes the responsibilities of the general manager of the station.  The father, Marty Crane, marries again and moves into a new house with his young bride of his autumn years.  Niles Crane, Frasier’s younger brother, and his wife, Daphne Moon Crane, who serves previously as the father’s live-in physical therapist, have a son.  Dr. Frasier Crane moves to San Francisco.  Each ending inherently possesses a new beginning.  Hence, every exit is indeed an entrance into a new chapter of life.

As they participate in that grand perennial season of celebration in American education, commencement, countless students bring to a close some of the most fun and enjoyable years of life.  The high school and collegiate years are both the most challenging and rewarding periods of life.  As they end, students say goodbye to close friends, encouraging teachers, and foundational experiences.  Ironically, we label the formal ceremony to mark this finality “commencement,” which means beginning.  The rite of passage of exiting from school (high school, college or graduate school) is the entrance to the next chapter of life.  The crossing of the stage to receive a diploma or degree resembles stepping over a threshold into the next room, leading to new vistas and experiences.

The actress, Melissa Gilbert, whom we mostly remember as the character of Laura Ingalls in the 1970s series, Little House on the Prairie, recalls the many tears that she shed at the conclusion of the final episode of the show.  She feared that she would never work again.  She did not know what the future held for her and the other cast members.  She only knew that she was losing something reliable.  In that moment of despair, she recollects that the late Michael Landon, who played Pa Ingalls, hugged her and said, “Don’t cry ‘Half Pint.’  This is not the end.  It’s just the beginning.  It’s just the beginning.”  You recall that Melissa Gilbert went on to be the star in several television movies and two television series.  Presently, her fellow actors and actresses have put their trust in her by electing her the president of the Screen Actors Guild.  Michael Landon’s words were both prophetic and true.  Little House was just the beginning.

Why is it that we dread change so much?  Why do we resist it with all our might and being?  We fall for the normal and understandable fallacy of wanting everything to remain the same.  Regardless of the years that have passed we want all of the furniture to remain in the same place.  We strive for a “home” in which we can have the assurance that very little will change.  Actually, we resolve that we have found such homes when things cease to change.  We desire to sit back, relax and coast for the rest of life. 

Interestingly, the Bible tells us that “home” is the journey.  We are most at “home” as we journey through life relying upon the “unfailing love” and faithful provision of Almighty God.  With every ending and each change, God enters us into a greater experience of His unfathomable love for us.  He mysteriously gives us His indescribable grace and tender loving kindness with each exit to empower us to go forth into the next chapter of life.