Human beings must always be on the watch for the coming of wonders. ~E.B. White, Charlotte's Web
One day last week, I emailed my sister Annie the above quote from E. B. White's "much-loved-by-children-of-all-ages" book, Charlotte's Web. Annie in turn emailed me one of her latest photos, this abandoned life guard stand on a lonely winter beach in Maine, along with her emphatic statement: "I don’t want to ever be found 'off duty'...in any way -- physically, mentally or spiritually!"
Me either! And yet, this happens to me all the time. Like so many of us, I suffer from "inattentional blindness," not seeing what's right in front of me because I'm so absorbed with something else. Sometimes I'm concentrating on the task at hand, which is what I should be doing, but other times my mind is preoccupied with -- with what? What do I think about all day long? And what kind of thinking do I engage in? Positive or negative? Do I brood or ponder? Do my thoughts lift me up or drag me down? And whatever they do for me, they do for others because my thoughts eventually influence my words and actions.
How and what I think also impacts what I see within and around me. if I'm looking for trouble, I'll surely find it, along with whatever else I seek, whether consciously or unconsciously. Is life for me a problem to be solved or a mystery to be lived? Will I be "on duty" today or "off duty"? Will I eagerly watch for the coming of wonders or lower myself to navel-gazing? Will I lazily succumb to inattentional blindness or vigorously strive to overcome it? As always, the choice is mine.
Dear Lord, today help me to see and to choose life -- and to celebrate it with abandon and joy! Amen! Alleluia!
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