GATE

The corona virus has two main gates into our bodies. Our nose and our mouth are like outside gates.  The gate into our lungs is the inside gate.  It's the one the doctor sees when he makes you go "Achhhhhhhhhhh" to look down there.  Actually if someone laughs, yawns or sings with their mouth open wide, then you might see that gate.   We can't close that gate, or we won't breath.  We can only guard the gates with good sanitary measures, and follow the health guidelines being recommended. Sanitize everything,  wash our hands frequently, watch where we go, what we touch, and keep our hands away from the outside gates. 

A gate is different than a door.  A gate separates open spaces and a door separates closed spaces.  The one thing all gates do is protect the space on both sides.  The gate protects from things getting in and getting out.  We feel safe walking by a house where a vicious dog is snarling and growling, even if we can see him, as long as there's a good fence and a sturdy gate.  Some gates are made to swing easily as you walk into them.  That would be like a turn style that's counting the number of people going through.   Gates that fit in doorways keep kids and pets enclosed and safe, especially at the top of stairs.

Some gates are the entrance to a high, solid wall, and except for a little peep hole door have maximum privacy.  In some countries a gate like that might be big enough for a car to drive through.  Gates protect in many ways, but still provide the convenience of traffic.  Many different types of hardware exist to keep a gate shut.  My favorite is the wire that comes through the front of the gate that you pull to release a clasp on the back.  It means you can have a really tall gate that you don't have to reach over to unclasp.  Ours have always come with locking options and in the city we feel safer keeping it locked when we aren't taking lawn mowers or plants through. 

Gates come in many sizes, shapes, style, and materials.  Gates are usually attached to a fence or a wall.  It would be very odd to see a gate standing alone in the middle of nowhere.  A gate tells us where the entrance is, if we don't fancy jumping the fence. But I have seen gates in an opening of dense hedges that create another kind of fence. 

A gate might keep something or someone out at ground level, but it can't keep out anything that flies, like insects and birds.  It also can't keep out rain or snow.  That comes down from the sky, no matter what kind of gate you have.  That means that a little virus flying through someone's cough can get in.  Keeping distance between your gates and others' is wise for right now. 

The Bible mentions gates in interesting ways. The most beautiful gates we can imagine are described as being in the New City that comes down from heaven, "... And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every separate gate was of one pearl:..." Revelation 21:21 I want to see the oysters that those pearls come from.  Has to be another planet. 

Then there are choices in life described as gates:  “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. " Matthew 7:13&14 NIV   I pray that most of us will find the gate that leads to life beyond whether we get the virus or not. 

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