Keys

In a rush to get to my car and get where I was going I grabbed my keys from the hook I keep them on and inadvertently knocked a cluster of other keys off their hooks and they crashed and scattered onto the floor. I drew a frustrated breath, knelt down to gather them up, and then hung them back on the hooks they all call home.

Traveling in my car now, onto my destination, I’m still lamenting the short delay I created in my haste. The image of my overflowing key rack is forefront in my mind. Why do I keep all of those keys? What are they all for?

You see, the problem is that keys are not self-identifiable. You can’t look at a key all by itself and know what it’s for, so subsequently, we just hang onto all our old keys, worried we’ll need them some day. At some point, because we don’t use them every day, we may forget what they’re for.

We’re fearful, and sometimes rightfully so, that something we want or need will be locked up, and we’ll have discarded the key that will allow us to get to it. Some days it’s tempting though. My experience this morning left me yearning to simplify and free up some keyhooks. “I’m going to get rid of those extra keys I don’t need anymore” I said to myself as I drove down the road.

As I drove, I continued to think about those keys and decided that maybe I did need to keep all of those keys after all. Maybe I’ll need them soon. Maybe I need them now.

You see, I use many of my keys on a regular basis. I try to anyway. I know a key to being a good husband and father is listening well. I know a key to being a good friend is showing compassion and staying in touch.

Now that I think about it, I believe there may be lots of other keys that I have figured out how to use over the years; perhaps I have forgotten I have them or forgotten what they unlock. Many of these keys are like master keys and can be used over and over again; listening, showing compassion, empathy, and patience are just a few. Many of the other keys, though, are more specific and harder to indentify (and might be a bit dusty). Several are keys to things inside each of us; the key to being childlike from time to time, the key to being able to open ourselves up and truly be “in the moment,” or the key to being vulnerable.

From time to time, we may see some of our keys as cluttering up our lives; as being in the way when we have more important destinations in mind; but the more I head down the road to my ultimate destinations, the more I realize I need them all to get where I want to go.