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Greetings, SBT Readers:
And so my stay in Malta is drawing to a close and, with it, my time way from digital demands. While a change in schedule and being "home" have definitely been liberating, it has also been good to be away from the tyranny of my mobile phone. For the last month, I have been unable to make or receive phone calls except through WhatsApp; even then, connectivity has been limited. Despite hours spent with T-Mobile tech support and despite all my complaining about the inconvenience of being "unplugged," at some level, not being "reachable" has been a blessing. For 30 days, there have been no client calls, no queries about my services and no marketing cold calls; for 30 days, I have had limited connection with my life in the U.S. Instead, I have immersed myself fully in my time here, being present to family and friends, breathing in the beauty of sea and countryside... True, I have been teaching two courses and, true, I have had SBT to produce each week, but work feels organic rather than burdensome. Here, I have enjoyed coveted "alone time" -- time to think and time to breathe, time to observe and time to connect, not just superficially, but deeply with people I left behind 50 years ago when I began my American adventure.
With my camera as my constant companion, I have captured moments of timelessness, images that will remind me of honey-colored limestone and cobalt blue, the fragrance of wild thyme and the sting of salt spray, whimsical moments of village life-- images that assure me of God's presence and which hold precious memories. As for my mobile, it has served as a second camera rather than a communication device; while I may have lost potential clients, I have delighted in having time to pause, reflect and simply be.
Many Blessings!
Elizabeth
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION
Link to Readings
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Be watchful! Stay awake!
You do not know when the time will come.
It is like a man traveling abroad who
leaves home, placing his servants in charge,
each with assigned work, and orders the gatekeeper to
be on the watch. Watch, therefore;
you do not know when the lord of the house is coming,
whether in the evening, or at midnight,
or at cockcrow, or in the morning.
May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.
What I am saying to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
MK 13:33-37
Who is the gatekeeper in today's Gospel? On the one hand, this could be the person whose role is constantly to keep watch so as to give the servants ample warning that their master is drawing near. Eyes focused on the horizon, this gatekeeper detects clouds of dust kicked up by horses' hooves and hears, from a distance, the approach of the lord's entourage. Having sounded the alarm, the gatekeeper's one task is to open the gate to the master's property; in this way, the weary traveler can enter in and find a warm bath, clean clothes and a hot meal awaiting him. The servants, of course, have not been idle; they have fulfilled all their assigned tasks and at a moment's notice, can produce the bath, clothes and meal, almost effortlessly.
Now, the gatekeeper's role could also be to keep watch on the household as well as on the horizon. Because of his or her vigilance, the servants don't dare slack off, indulge in drunken revelry, or forget the duties assigned to them. The household runs smoothly precisely because the gatekeeper monitors the servants' activities, intervening when necessary, while warning miscreants of dire consequences. If the servants neglect their duties, the gatekeeper is quick to remind them that the day of reckoning approaches; if they nap during working hours, the gatekeeper wakes them up.
So who is this gatekeeper-- and who are the servants? When Jesus warns his disciples that they need to "stay awake," he draws a parallel between their watchfulness and that of the gatekeeper, between their duties and those of the servants. The master trusts his household to function in his absence; he expects everything to be in order upon his return. Similarly, the disciples are to live in a state of readiness, not out of the expectation of a reward but simply because this is their duty.
As disciples, we need to emulate the functioning household. Each of us needs a "gatekeeper" to keep our house in order -- the House of the Self, that is, with all its competing demands, commitments, loyalties, and inclinations. This gatekeeper --our higher self-- not only monitors our activities, but also our priorities. He --or she-- helps us to see when our lives are out of balance, or when we are focused on transient matters instead of matters of spiritual consequence, or when we are obsessed with personal whims rather than exploring what God desires for us. Our "servants" can be unruly -- obstinate, self-indulgent, defiant, lazy, ungrateful, complacent, entitled and short-sighted. They need a vigilant gatekeeper to remind them that the one thing that really matters is to be ready when the Master comes -- not just at the hour of our death, but in every waking moment. The Lord of the House, is "Lord" whether he is seemingly absent or whether he is tangibly present, whether he is "in sight" or "out of sight." He may not be expecting a warm bath, clean clothes and hot meal, but, at the very least, he expects us to open the gates for him; he longs for a loving welcome and attentive hospitality. That is enough for him.
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