When we think about virtues, we don’t usually list watchfulness as one of them and yet, Jesus often counseled his followers to be watchful.
He told the parable of the virgins who kept watch as they waited for the bridegroom and he referred to the master of the house, who knows not the day or the hour when the thief will break in. Jesus talked about reading the signs, about the importance of being prepared, and he asked his disciples to keep watch with him during his agony in the Garden.
To be watchful requires vigilance. It means we are to be attentive to the here and now, even as we keep an eye toward the future.
Life is filled with periods of watchfulness. There are tornado watches, flash flood warnings, and forest rangers who watch for the first sign of fire. The whole purpose of being watchful is to avoid being caught off guard when the unexpected happens.
Nevertheless, as vigilant as we might be, life continues to surprise us. We need only look at the destruction wrought by Hurricanes Helene and Milton to realize that much of what takes place in life is beyond our control.
Only one thing is certain, which is that one day, every person will die and find themselves standing before the Lord. It’s a sobering thought and yet if we live our life with an eye toward eternity, the reality of facing the Lord will be a source of joy rather than shame and regret.
Scripture tells us that God will come with his angels in all his glory at the end times, but it also reminds us that he comes now. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20). God comes to us in many ways, but unless we remain watchful, we can be oblivious to the fact that he is seeking us.
St. Augustine wrote: “Some people in order to discover God read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Note it; read it. God whom you wish to discover never wrote that book with ink; instead he set before your eyes the things that he had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that? Why, heaven and earth shout to you, ‘God made me.’”
Nothing in this world exists without God, but unless we are watchful, we will miss the many ways God is present in every moment of our day. It’s easy to lose sight of God when we get caught up in the externals of life, passing though they may be.
This tendency reminds me of an exercise we did with hospice volunteers. Each person was given a paper flower and asked to write on each petal a task they performed on a regular basis. Next, they were told to imagine they had a terminal illness and as the disease progressed, they were to tear off a petal that represented something they were no longer able to do. At last, they were left with only the center. The purpose of the exercise was to help them better appreciate what terminally ill patients experience on a physical level, but the process could also be applied to the spiritual journey.
The closer we draw to God, the easier it becomes to relinquish nonessentials. When we consider the fragility of human flesh, we realize that the pain, joy, burdens, and ecstasies are only part of the journey.
We have been made in the image and likeness of God, and therefore are immortal. God has given us his spirit, his mind and soul, and his body and blood. God comes to us, not as a feeling, a phantom or a dream, but as food for the journey.
Who can understand the mind of a God who creates from nothing all that we are, who gives us life and then asks us to die? Only those who remain watchful can penetrate the mysteries that will be disclosed fully when we come to the end of our pilgrimage on earth. Until then, let us pray for the grace to be watchful for we know neither the day nor the hour.
Barbara Hughes is an award-winning author, retreat facilitator and spiritual guide. She lives in Virginia Beach and can be reached at [email protected].