Be watchful! Be alert!
You do not know when
the time will come.
No, we don’t know the mystery of when the time will come and that scares us.
That’s why we live it with difficulty. Our thoughts often slip into the past and get lost there, allowing themselves to be bewitched by things that are not clear and that can be shaped at will.
The past is ambiguous. It is a siren song, a trap.
Or else our thoughts fly to the future, going beyond the present to project us into an unattainable “elsewhere.”
To be watchful is first of all to be aware of the present. To open our eyes to the world as it is.
To be watchful is to wake up to reality, recognizing its details, scents and shadows.
To be watchful is to heed, touch and savor the here and now.
To be watchful is to take a deep breath and make space for what is real. It means expanding the present moment and discovering that the Infinite dwells there. It means learning to recognize the Mystery that is continually being born each instant. It means learning from the logic of Bethlehem, where the Infinite opens its eyes and needs care.
To be watchful is to expand time and make it livable, warm and welcoming. It means dwelling in this time and space, holding the two together, being born into them.
It is a space in which the past is transformed into memory
and the future into hope.
