A while ago Dan and I were walking around Canterbury Cathedral. We had seen round the bits we could get to, and we were musing we had thought it was much larger. Just as we were meandering one last time around, Dan saw The Door. It was a big door. With one of those large metal ring pull handles and lots of blackened metal studs. It looked important.
I hadn’t really paid the door much attention, assuming it was locked and just part of the building. Dan however disagreed. He wanted to open The Door. I said not to try, it wouldn’t be allowed, or it would be locked, but he was already at The Door, opening it.
Turns out that was the way into the rest of the grounds, and we spent another half hour having fun exploring. That was the day he and I started going out (well it was early the next morning, but near enough). We started going out in part due to me feeling more comfortable with him after this little date. But what a difference The Door made. Gave us more time together, showed me his spirit and his courage. Maybe things would be different without it.
Two things struck me after this encounter, the first was that I needed to be braver. There had been no “Stay Out on pain of flogging” sign on the door, or even a “Keep Out”, the worst that would’ve happened would have been it was locked. I should try things more, go out of my way a bit more, it opens up a whole host of opportunities.
The other thing I realised was I needed other people to see what I don’t see. For me sometimes it’s my friends spotting someone waving hello (I’m notoriously unobservant), sometimes its a relevant sermon, sometimes its God, throwing messages my way. Whoever it is, noticing whatever it is, I’m better off with people. I need to see through someone else’s eyes, so I can see the unopened door, so I may know what lies behind it.
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