Some of the seniors reading this will know what I am talking about but the rest of you won’t have a clue, so I will explain.
Back in the dark-ages, roller skates didn’t have boots attached to them. They were an attachment you put on your sturdiest shoes (ones with a solid sole). The skates had metal prongs that moved back and forth and were adjusted by a key. You placed your shoe on the skates and then leaned over to turn the key.
It took a bit of work but once the skates and shoe were joined together there was that WOW feeling of anticipation as a sense of freedom rose and you took those first few steps. I guess it could be compared to stepping on the gas pedal of your first car…you finally had “wheels.”
The best place to roller skate when I was a kid was at the CPR station a few blocks away. The asphalt stretched a long ways without a bump in it. But alas, during the war years my Dad decided it was not a good place to roller skate…he wasn’t afraid of the trains…he just didn’t think the “troop trains” going through with their sometimes naughty occupants was a good place for a teenager. Would he ever laugh at himself now if he knew I married an Airman years later.
Also the Legion allowed us to skate in their complex. I think they covered the floor with a heavy tarp first, but my memory is a bit muddled about that.
Our local Teen Town Club, which was supervised, but which we ran entirely on our own, rented a bus occasionally and we’d head across the border (about 13 miles) to Sumas, Washington to a great roller skating rink that played music for our entertainment. Our ankles ached for days afterwards.
Oh yes, there were some budding romances at the back of the bus, but it was mostly just yelling and laughter.
It all sounds so simple compared to the “Raves” that kids experience nowadays.
But, back to the skates and those keys. The skates were useless without the keys. Lose them and your moments of joy, adventure and freedom were gone. They were small but precious.
Scripture speaks of the keys of the Kingdom and my research shows there is a variety of opinion as to who holds those keys. I believe that those keys are precious too but that they are in the hands of God and He will decide who will find the gates of the Kingdom open.
He has said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within you. I believe that the keys that unlock that kingdom are our faith and trust in Him.
