“Incorrect code. Access denied.”
The typically congenial female voice at the gate of my friends’ community dropped to a lower cold-toned register conveying suspicions about the integrity of my attempt to get the gate to open. I laughed as I visualized the non-existent female security guard shaming me and wagging her finger at me. I punched in the correct code and the gate opened as her mood immediately changed and she cheerfully announced, “Access granted!”
As I drove through the gate and the streets of the posh community, I pondered the irony of security gates which were perhaps a slight deterrent to crime, but would also allow for a long stream of cars (riding each other’s bumpers) to enter. I always felt lucky when I would arrive at the gate in time to follow the car in front of me whose driver had been granted access by meticulously typing in the correct gate code.
What a metaphor for life. We will open our hearts—“access granted”—to people who enter the right code, i.e. say the right words, give us money, say what we want to hear, have the same beliefs and political perspectives as we do, follow the same diet, and so on and so forth. We will close our hearts to those who don’t. “Access denied.”
And, thankfully, at other times we might chance upon someone who is wide open to the joy that comes with exploring the differences, or we might even be that someone for someone else saying, “Come! Share your perspective with me! Tell me about yourself and how you view the world! Access granted!”
I turned left onto my friends’ street where the beautiful early morning Sedona weather had coaxed streams of residents out of their houses. They passed by walking in groups, as couples, or with their dogs, waving and smiling at me. Yeah, this is how life should be all of the time, I thought.
A wide open heart is the gateway to heaven. Simple curiosity about what’s on the other side is all that is required. No one is denied access to God and the mysteries of the universe. The gate is always open. No passcode required. Access granted. Always.
