Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - December 13, 2024
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from You.”
Vigilance. Alertness. Readiness. They're admirable and we appreciate them in our fellow workers, friends and those close to us, but being prepared for anything is often where we so easily fail because of procrastination, laziness, or simple weariness. Domination by the virus has been teaching us that there are some things we cannot be prepared for. And that things can change from moment to moment.
We fall in love without thinking. We take off for a vacation in Mazatlán packing a parka and forgetting sun screen. So often we're not ready because we're not really here. We waste time by being only half-present. It’s like the disquieting experience of being at dinner or in a conversation with someone only to see that he or she is looking beyond us for something or someone else.
Someone has put it memorably: “Nothing is so rare as the moment when we want to be where we are, doing what we are doing.” Attention, being truly present, can transform even the simplest moments of life. The present and what we are doing deserves respect.
Our talk gives away how little we prize the present: We 'catch' a bus; 'grab' a bite to eat; 'dash off' a letter or a report; 'run' to the store; 'get through the week.' But this present moment and place are where God and others are, where real life is. Diana Eck says: “To be aware, alert, attentive is the greatest spiritual challenge we ever face, even the only one.” Could be.
Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”
