openings

There is always a mystery to what lies behind a closed door. A surprise, tragedy, wake-up call ... the simplicity of an everyday occurrence. All reveal our utter lack of control to what will be disclosed when the knob is turned. Yet ... we all have a choice to walk through the exhibited entrances/exits we front daily.

Sometimes opening a door creates opportunity that we could never have fathomed. Today, I was walking up a wide, ascending sidewalk. A young man in a wheelchair was working with concentrated efforts, making his way forward. My eyes were not looking or anticipating a "door" of any kind as I walked beside him. A man striding a bit ahead of me slowed down to start conversation with the younger man. Within seconds, the younger man asked if he would be willing to push him 20 feet farther to get over the hardest part of the hill. As if on queue, this 'striding' man instinctively helped him forward. Maybe everyone else would've seen such a door presented to open ... I didn't. It caused me to think "how many doors am I blind to?"

I continually ask God to show me these portals, for these types of opportunities. And here is one...this very day! Not to be down on myself that I didn't jump in when I could've, but rather to focus on the reality that God follows through with His promises. He assured us that when we knock, He will open, answer, and create the doors of our needs, our cries, our hearts, our mysteries. That part IS taken care of.

Our part ... we may not have the power to open or make "doors" appear, but we do have the capacity to ask God for direction to them, to knock when we get there, and to take the initial step through them.

pic pix: handle on the door to an old church [Wiesbaden, Germany] that was being restored while I was there June '08 ... I wonder how many non-Purelled hands have turned this nob??!!