After a few weeks of driving by this gate, I finally stopped to photograph it. Why, I wondered, did one gate need so many locks? Did kids from the nearby high school put them there as a joke? Once I got close enough to take the shot, I realized the simple answer. But as I drove away, I couldn’t stop thinking about the beauty of such a solution.

You see, many people need access to the nature preserve behind the gate. I counted 13 locks, which means 13 different keys, 13 different reasons for opening the chain-linked gate. The chain is made up of a link, then a lock, another link, then a lock, a link, a lock, a link, a lock, and so on. One turn of a key in the corresponding lock, and the chain is opened so the gate can swing wide to allow access.

Is it like this with us as well? Do we keep ourselves protected by lots of locks, just waiting for the right people to come along with the right keys to open us up?