"The Key"

I sure carry a lot of keys. Three of them lock up my journals when needed.

I often have two or three journals going at the same time. One kind is a large-size scrapbook in which I paste clippings, artwork, and various words and images I want to keep for the future. I often save words and/or music from church bulletins. All of these are keys of a sort.

"The Key" by Christina Rossetti was sung by the choir of Trinity Cathedral about a year ago, and I came across it yesterday. The 'saint' is Peter and the question 'Do you love me?' was asked of him three times by Jesus after his resurrection (see John 21). The 'grace-conferring breath' is a reference to John 20: "Jesus breathed on the disciples and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.' These are two of my favorite chapters in the entire Bible, which in my favorite edition is almost two thousand pages long.

Love is the key of life and death,
Of hidden heavenly mystery;
Of all Christ is, of all he saith,
Love is the key.

As three times to his saint he saith,
He saith to me, he saith to thee,
Breathing his grace-conferring breath:
"Lov'st thou me?"

Ah, Lord, I have such feeble faith,
Such feeble hope to comfort me;
But love it is as strong as death,
And I love thee.

— Christina Rossetti

If anyone asked me why I remain a Christian, the best answer I could give would be,
Of all Christ is, of all he saith, / Love is the key.
But I imagine a Buddhist or a Jew or a Hindu or a Muslim would give a similar answer, couched in terms of their own faith. If only we could put our beliefs into practice, the world would be less a purgatory and more a Garden of Eden.
May it come to pass.