Passing by a school we attended in the past always brings back memories. The years fall away, the corridors of memory are prowled. There is a part of us forever a child. One common school experience was when a teacher left the room. They departed leaving work to do and words of admonition. Absence is a test. All too often the result was one or two stood sentry, listening for the teacher’s return, while the rest made mayhem or worked at the assigned task.
Switch to the Gospel and the not unfamiliar sight of an absentee Landlord. No more than school, some of us are childish when it comes to what the Gospel asks of us. Absence is a test. Will we faithfully do the work we have been left to do? Or will we play up hoping that we won’t get caught out if he comes back unexpectedly?
It’s strange how we’re destined for eternity, and yet we don’t know how to profitably spend the time we do have in our earthly lives. Are we letting the significance of life sweep by us unnoticed, or are we standing on tiptoes, waiting and working at what we have been given to do and mind? Time never seems to work for us. It either goes too fast – with conflicting demands and pressures; or too slow that we become lethargic and assume that nothing ever changes. Advent is a time to wake up, if we have fallen asleep. After all absence is a test.
(Comments to Tom at tomascox@eircom.net )