SUNDAY, MAY 9, 2010

THE SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

______________________________________________________

Dear Friends in Our Lord Jesus:

The modern-day adventurer Sir John Bagot Glubb told an intriguing little story about an ordinary pocket watch. The story took place in the Middle East more than 100 years ago. It occurred when a gang of bandits stopped a caravan and unceremoniously relieved the passengers of their belongings. One of the pirates took a shiny golden pocket watch as his share of the loot.

As the story was told, the young robber was inexperienced in the ways of the world and had never seen a watch. When he held it up to his ear, he heard it ticking and thought that it was alive. It was a stupendous discovery. Within seconds, literally, the watch became the young man's prized possession. He proudly showed it to all the younger members of the gang. All was well until the watch stopped. And then, for the young thief, time stopped. His world ended.

Finally, when he came to his senses, he took the lifeless timepiece to the chief of the robbers and told him the sad story of the watch's demise. "It was never alive," the chief said, laughing. "Those things are made by special artisans who work in Damascus. You had better take it to one of them." The young robber was devastated. He walked away sadly, head downcast, eyes welling up with tears. The lifeless piece of gold lay dormant in his hand.

And then an amazing thing happened. As the man tearfully fondled his moribund possession, he accidentally twisted the winding stem, and the watch began to tick. First one tick, then another, and then another. With a shout of joy, the robber jumped to his feet and ran to his chief. He was absolutely jubilant. "I don't care for your artisans in Damascus!" he shouted. "What are they to me? I myself know how it works!" So elated was the young man in discovering the simple act of winding the watch that he -- for a moment -- considered himself to be as wise, as clever, as skillful as the craftsman who created the watch in the first place.

When we divert our attention from the Lord and focus our thoughts exclusively on ourselves, we, too, can forget that we are precious creatures of a loving God.

-- The Very Rev. Dr. Steve Sellers +