THE THIRD KEY

As my fingers grasped the third key, I closed my eyes. The vividness of my vision involved all of my senses as I stood in front of that building. It was a simple structure that had seen its better days. I walked up the steps and unlocked the door. There was a familiar smell ... the smell of an old musty house ... just the smell of a building that had been shut up too long without airflow. The wood floors of the entryway matched the dark rich color of the furniture that was visible through the next doorway. I walked to the far end of the room, up a few steps and stood behind the pulpit. I looked out at the empty pews. This coming Sunday they would be filled with aged parishioners who would be looking at this nineteen year old boy for the eternal answers to life's questions. Well, maybe they'd just be wondering if I knew the right answers. I moved to that little Delta town without knowing a soul. I had met one family previously, but I did not know them at all. No one offered to carry me around and introduce me to either other townspeople or their fellow members. I stood in that church and wondered what I was doing. I didn't know how to be a preacher. Something about my education was a bit too academic to address this existential dilemma. Who am I in this community? I was a nobody. No one knew me, and I knew no one. Surviving that crisis, I did come to know some of the townspeople, and all of the members very well. Among the Christians there was a retired preacher. He had been preaching in the interim. He had a watch repair shop in a nearby town. I was warned by some members not to be surprised if he was highly critical of me. However, he often took me to lunch on Sundays and was a great encouragement. He has now gone to be with the Lord. There was another man who took me under his wing and taught me much. I felt very comfortable with this family, and they seemed to like me. Unfortunately something came between us, and I do not know if I ever knew what it was. Like my own father, and other men I came to regard as "father", he abandoned his interest in me. I do not know where he is now. There was a lady who I had a hard time growing to love. Once I did see her tender heart, though, I grew to regard her as a mother in the faith. We had our ups and downs, but she always remained interested in my ministry. I received a letter from her a few months ago and put off writing back to her. She now resides in a nursing facility in that town and probably would not know me. I cannot tell about all of them. One was an elderly woman who had never married, and lived with her very elderly mother. I remember an inspirational brother who was bent over with the pain of arthritis and age. Anytime I asked him how he was, he replied "just right". In my mind I can see a hot tempered mechanic with a humble and sweet wife. I liked them a lot. I should also mention a beautiful young mother and her pretty blonde daughter. I would watch her walk down the aisle in white in another building ... but that would be some years away. A man I knew when I was in college moved to another small Delta town five miles up the road. I didn't care for him much, and actually dreaded his move into the area. Little did I know that a deep friendship would develop over the years that remains as strong as ever even now. For two years I struggled to find my identity in a little town, preaching for a little church full of aged disciples. Through a set of circumstances it became apparent that they were wanting someone a little more sure of themselves and I reckoned I better work with some people closer to my age. I became a youth minister for another church down the road. And I no longer needed the key.