Dennis L. Peterson
Apr 3, 20202 min
Someone (I conducted a brief online search to discover who, but I found no definitive answer) once said, “When God closes a door, He opens a window.”
The current (and ongoing for only God knows how much longer) public health crisis has closed not just one but many doors for a lot of people, and I haven’t been immune to that plight. For just a few examples,
I speak monthly in the chapel program of a local private Christian school. Now all schools are closed, quite conceivably through the rest of the school year.
I’m in the midst of conducting research on a major writing project. Now all the libraries, including the special archives I most need to use, are closed. With stay-at-home recommendations, I’m even reluctant to visit local cemeteries, where I might conduct at least a little of my research.
I serve as a docent for the museum of a local historical society. Now the museum is closed indefinitely.
These are just three of the several doors that unavoidably have been closed for me. But, without my doing anything to cut a hole in the wall and install a window, one suddenly appeared via an e-mail. I examined it and, thinking that I saw through it a great opportunity, opened it and stuck my head out for a look to see if it did, indeed, hold promise. Literally within minutes of my doing so, I had my answer, an invitation to take on an important assignment!
Perhaps you’ve heard the anecdote about two women who attended a function at the Coolidge White House during which one lady, upon entering, told the president that she had bet her companion that she could coax the famous “Silent Cal” into saying more than two words that evening. He smiled and then ignored her completely throughout the evening. As she was departing the room, Coolidge shook her hand, smiled warmly, and said, “You lose!”
I also like the embroidered saying that Coolidge allegedly kept over his mantlepiece:
A wise old owl sat on an oak;
The more he saw, the less he spoke;
The less he spoke, the more he heard;
Why can’t we be like that old bird?
I once wrote an article about “Silent Cal” for The Elks Magazine. I also wrote an article for Scouting magazine about the tragic loss of one of his sons while the Coolidges were living in the White House (see https://scoutingmagazine.org/issues/0010/d-wwas.html). So Coolidge has a special place in my mind and heart.
So what doors has the current situation closed to you? Have you found your open window yet?
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