Run Pee before the End Credits
My son and I went to a movie matinee yesterday. As has been our practice for some time now, as soon as the end credits began to roll, we both pulled out our iPhones and raced to find something. We went to “Run Pee” (as in the app, not the action).
Being movie buffs with bladders, that app allows us to know when to go—if you know what I mean. (You laugh now. You’ll download it in a minute.) That’s why I downloaded it years ago. But we found another great feature in the app. It tells you whether or not there are any extra scenes after the end credits.
So, yesterday afternoon, while most of the people in the theater were getting up and walking out, we scrambled to our phones to see what the app said about our movie (X-Men: Days of Future Past). When we found that there was an extra scene worth waiting for, we both smiled and said, “Yes!”
It’s been a small father-son ritual for a few years whenever we go to movies. When Steady and I find an extra scene, part of us wants to stand up and tell the people who are walking out to stay, and the other part of us just wants to look at each other and smile knowing what’s ahead.
Yesterday as the credits rolled for several minutes and we waited on the extra scene, I pondered a parallel to the spiritual life. I just remarked to someone last week that I am amazed how many people just don’t want to know (or at least talk about) if there is life after death. In other words, are there any extra scenes after the end credits of our lives roll? (This observation is based on a LOT of conversations over many years).
I think some people don’t ask because they can’t imagine finding a reliable answer. Some don’t ask because they’re ticked off at the director that the movie plot didn’t unfold the way they thought it should. And some just don’t care either way. It is what it is.
But I think it matters. To take it one step further, if I really do believe that there is a God who has “extra scenes” in store for us, I ought to be willing to tell others in the theater about it. I don’t mean shouting to them as they are walking out, “You morons... You’re going to miss it!” I mean more in the context of, “Hey man, just to let you know... there’s an extra scene afterwards if you want to wait and see it.”
One of the core elements of Jesus’ teachings is about the “extra scenes” of life after the end credits roll. Could He have been wrong? Sure. That’s a possibility. But what if He really knows how this thing ends? It’s at least worth asking the questions and kicking the tires on what He said. Isn’t it?
