DOORS

Have you ever thought about the number of times you open and close doors? Have you tried to discover what it represents in your life? Have you ever reminisced the feeling of turning that knob and walking into a completely different world in a matter of seconds? Seemingly irrelevant to most people; after all, it’s simply a door.  Yet doors play a bigger role than you think, and passing through one affects you more than you imagine. 

Sometimes these abstract doors, these pieces of wood or glass, are influential and hold a substantial weight in your journey.  I’ve crossed a variety of doors in my lifetime.  It’s obvious I still have a billion more.  The first doorway I was ever able to open. Poor Lisa dropping me off at school for the first and last time.....being 8th grade and pretty much a threat!  Crawling through mom and dad’s doorway at midnight (like a soldier in the trenches) to curl up on their floor, safe from all the vampires and psycho killers stalking me at age 10.  My baptism.  Walking through the gym door of my first cheerleading tryout.  The first door a boy ever held open for me as a gentlemanly gesture.  Departing KMart to fall upon my Molly.  My entrance into college.  The Uhauls.  Stepping out of the New York airport into the city that never sleeps.  The last time I closed and locked my third grade classroom door.  The door I shut each time I leave home.  The doorway to my heart. 

Doors doors doors.  They’re everywhere!   

Blue Doors.  I’m fascinated with them.  The peeling paint, aged rotting wood, the design detail, the knobs that have grasped so many unfamiliar hands with a purpose, the sounds and hushed words once spoken just on the other side, the secrets they hide.  While perusing the great web world, I stumbled upon photos of blue doors.  (I was in search of a new computer background - working hard, yes)  Obsession quickly followed.  I want, I need an old blue door.  I began searching for an old Moroccan blue door.  A question I found myself asking was, Why blue? Don’t get me wrong - I think blue is fantastic, but green can be soothing, red is spicy, and yellow is heart warming.  What is so darn special about blue? .......Bet you didn’t know blue doors are thought to repel evil.  It is a frequent custom in North Africa and Mediterranean areas.  Guess they happen to be a bit more superstitious than Americans.  

Outward.  In the U.S. all doors open inward.  Probably something you’ve never paid much attention to; I haven’t.  In Sweden exterior doors open outward.  Reason being - to keep snow out.  Houses are also built on higher foundations to prevent residents from being “snowed in.”  An image most Texans will have a difficult time conjuring up.  Does this mean you could never kick in a door in Sweden.  I wonder if they have lower crime rates? :)     

Foot-in-the-Door.  A phrase we all use.  A marketing technique, in fact.  What can I get? Where can I get? What will you do for me? That “Door” seems pretty critical in this overused expression. An introduction into something or with someone, with the hopes of progression to follow after that first monumental step.

Dreams.  We’ve all seen doors in films featuring visions at the brink of death. A pristine white door awaiting you in a cerulean blue sky.  I, myself, have never had a dream centered on a door.  A good thing perhaps?... Of course some scientist, therapist, physic, i.e. nerd has attempted to delve into the meaning of the Door of Reverie.  I was curious what they might say.  Some believe if a door opens outward, it may show you need to more accessible to others. Go out into the world! Do something! An inward opening door may represent the need for inner exploration.  A locked door essentially represents the past.  What you’re leaving behind.  What you can’t let go of.  Last, A revolving door. A sign you’re basically going nowhere.  And dizzy!

Slammed. Shut in your face.....that one pretty much explains itself. 

But what about those spiritual doors? The ones God opens and closes around us all the time.  His power truly amazes me.  His doors are always mysterious, mischievous, scary, overwhelming, and more of a jump than the literal ones we enter and exit each day. I have not understood all the doors He’s opened and closed in my life, but I can assure you, it all serves a purpose (one I wish I knew ahead of time), and eventually becomes clear in a heavenly way.    

Ultimately, a door is a possibility.  Willingly or unwillingly, a change is about to take place.  Sometimes unbeknownst, sometimes in fear or bliss, sometimes you are just shoved right through, sometimes we stand in the middle and pace for a while, and sometimes you find something sweeter than honey, greener than grass, waiting for you on the other side.  

“I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

Revelation 3:8 

I like to think of God’s plan for my life as a series of doorways I will enter and exit through.  The hardest part is learning patience and having the faith to keep moving forward....even if the door is old, deteriorated, and blue.