From the Department of Mixed Feelings

According to the Chicago Tribune, "A Presbyterian minister collapsed and died in mid-sentence of a sermon after saying 'And when I go to heaven.'"

The Rev. Jack Arnold was nearing the end of his sermon and had just finished quoting John Wesley--"Until my work on this earth is done, I am immortal. But when my work for Christ is done . . . I go to be with Jesus"--when he apparently suffered cardiac arrest.

My sincere condolences go to the family and congregation on the traumatic loss of their pastor. But at the same time, I can't help but think, "What a way to go!"

A couple of years ago, I happened to be visiting a Presbyterian church in South Carolina on All Saints' Day. During the sermon, the pastor remembered his mother, a minister's wife who lived a good and long life. He recounted how, after her funeral, the congregation recessed behind her coffin, singing "For All the Saints," and the pastor turned to his family and said, "It doesn't get any better than this." What a way to go!