Third Place Thoughts

Keys are important.  I received a new key today.  The back door at the church was upgraded and that means that I get another key on my already packed keyring.  Make that my "work-keyring".  A couple of days ago, I also picked up a new key at home.  There, it was just a matter of replacing a worn out doorknob--but it has yet to make it onto a key ring.  Regardless of why I have these new additions, their presence has made me ponder what I carry around with me on a daily basis.

On one key-ring I have car keys for two cars, a bike-lock key that has gone unused for the past three years, electronic key fobs for Emme's preschool and for the neighborhood pool, a key to the "Preschool Board Suggestion Box", those little scannable fobs for everything from the athletic club to the library to the grocery store, a Texas EX life-member keyring, and a key for the lockable desk drawer that I keep unlocked.  I do not have a house key on the ring.  We have had some work going on at the house for the past couple of weeks, so my key has remained under the welcome mat while our handyman hangs out at our home.

On the other set, it is all work related keys... fourteen of them to be precise.  They make their home on a labyrinth keyring that I bought for Leigh, about 10 years ago.  She never used it, so I commandeered it.  There are keys for outer church doors, inner church doors, sound systems, AC systems, etc.  In any given week, I will only use about three of these... but It is always nice to know that the other are there if I need them.  A few weeks ago, I left home without this keyring, for the Thanksgiving Eve service.  I felt naked and dependent on others.


 
Usually, because these make up such a heavy load to carry around, one ring or the other will hang out in a desk drawer until needed.  At the athletic club, I leave my keys on a board at the front desk.  There is nothing worse than running on a treadmill to the sound of Jingle-Keys. 

Perhaps what really got me thinking about keys was the AA group that meets at the church.  They do not have keys, and have to be let into the building.  We have the system worked out pretty well, but still I worry that they will be locked-out at some point because everyone has finished their work and gone home early.  They have recently transitioned to our place, from another hosting church that trusted them with keys.  We have not established that type of relationship yet, even though we leave and allow them to lock up--pulling the door closed behind them.

I remember the first time that I was given a key to the church.  I was probably twelve.  My mom had a part time cleaning job at the church we attended and I would often go help.  I remember that there was one week that she was sick, and I volunteered to go do the vacuuming-- and there were comments on that Sunday about the dirty sanctuary.  I had not done a quality job, and it showed.  Even so, I got to keep the key.  It shared a ring with my house key and the key to the Scout hut.

That was a simpler time.  Home life was not ideal, but the house in which we lived was definitely a home.  School and Scouts were my work.  I could ride my bike to either of those locations and lock it up with a coiled cable and a combination lock.  Church was my third place...maybe church, the video arcade, and the pizza place. And then there were the streets and the backyards of my neighborhood-- that is were we could usually be found, most likely with friends.

I miss those "Third Places".  Today at lunch, I was greeted by name at my favorite lunch spot, The Red Orchid.  It has become one of my regular haunts.  I go there so often that I feel like I should send a Christmas card to the staff that always takes such good care of me.  The athletic club has become another one of my regular brick-and-mortar sites.  I am there with regularity.

So, just as I was just thinking about healthy boundaries between work, home, and these other public spots when I ran across this blog by Ed Stetzer.  Then there was this National Geographic article on cities. These have made me think of how we use public space (both effectively and ineffectively) .  And then there is Twitter!  It is certainly a cyber-space that has great potential in building community.  I think it should be considered a "third place" that rivals even the Roman Forum.  It is that place that I go with regularity.  I am part of that community... even though I am not one who does a lot of talking.  I do a lot of listening.  I keep an eye open for more effective fulcrums.  It is truly a new medium, largely because of its creative users. 

All that being said, I believe that I haven't been using the right keys recently, to access the proverbial backyard.  I am still riding around in the street.  I need to do some internal organization... and reengage my creative connective.  I'm not sure how to do it.  It is an adaptive problem, not a technical one.  So this is the beginning! (I hope it gets better.)

Me:
https://twitter.com/schaefers
https://twitter.com/presbyink
https://twitter.com/scotchpresbyter

In my short term memory:
https://twitter.com/#!/schaefers/apts
http://beingrkp.com/
http://timblodgett.tumblr.com/
http://christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2011-12/perspectives-young-clergy-crisis#comment-15480
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=55#gospel_reading