The Emergency Exit
The theater was full.
Saturday night.
Sold out.
Popcorn in laps.
Phones silenced.
Lights dimmed.
The screen came alive and the room disappeared into the story.
Heroes rose.
Music swelled.
The crowd leaned forward together.
No one noticed the small red sign glowing above a plain metal door near the back.
EXIT.
It did not compete with the screen.
It did not entertain.
It simply glowed.
Halfway through the final act, a faint smell drifted through the air.
At first it was easy to ignore.
Then someone coughed.
A thin haze curled along the ceiling.
The movie kept playing.
The illusion held for a few seconds longer.
Until it didn’t.
Smoke thickened.
Voices rose.
People stood, unsure where to move.
No hero stepped off the screen.
In the confusion, the small red sign became the only thing that mattered.
EXIT.
The door no one admired.
The door no one applauded.
The door that never needed attention.
It became the way out.
They pushed into the cool night air, breathing hard, grateful.
The sign had been there the entire time.
Not to enhance the show.
To save them from it.
We spend most of our lives absorbed in the screen.
Jesus did not come to improve the storyline.
He said He is the way.
And when the smoke rises,
we realize the exit was mercy all along.
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