The Keeper Who Opened the Gates Every Monday

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #950: Sunday, June 28th, 2006

Every Monday morning, before the first visitors arrived, an old wildlife keeper unlocked the gates to a sanctuary perched on the edge of a battered coastline.

The storms had been relentless.

Salt had eaten away at the fences. Branches littered the paths. Some mornings it seemed as though the wind had undone an entire week’s worth of work in a single night.

Friends would occasionally ask him the same question.

“Doesn’t it ever discourage you…seeing it damaged over and over again?”

He would smile, pick up another fallen branch, and continue walking.

“You think I’m here to defeat the storm,” he said.

“I’m here to make sure the sanctuary is still standing…after it passes.”

The birds didn’t know what day it was.

The young trees didn’t know how many storms had already come.

The injured animals…waiting behind those gates simply…needed someone who showed up again.

So…every Monday…he unlocked the gate with the same quiet ceremony.

Not because he expected an easy week.

Because he expected to be needed.

Years later, visitors remarked on how peaceful the sanctuary felt.

They admired the towering trees…the thriving wildlife…the winding trails.

Almost no one noticed the thousands of Mondays hidden beneath it all.

The gates opened.

The paths were cleared.

The repairs were made.

One ordinary morning…after another.

And…perhaps that’s how the strongest places…and the strongest people…are built.

Not by waiting for favorable weather.

Not by demanding certainty before acting.

But by greeting another Monday with steady hands…unlocking the gate…and continuing the work that quietly makes tomorrow possible.

Thank you, Jack Hopkins for another timely reminder – You can follow him on Substack.