Be Vigilant At All Times   

Only God is Perfect

It always pays to be vigilant. Consider the following curious thing I discovered one day.  As we were saying our family prayers, I noticed that the rosary that I had been carrying had only nine beads on its first decade. Take a close look at the picture above.  It has wooden beads strung on a strong cord which had never broken. I had no idea where the tenth bead had gone. It might have been that way since I bought it.

The first thought that entered my mind (after I got over my initial surprise) was of Muslim prayer rugs. They usually have a few stiches the wrong color. Or the great mosques, where every row of columns has one that’s just slightly out of kilter.  The makers put these imperfections into their work intentionally, as an acknowledgement that only God can lay claim to perfection, which it is right and proper for us to acknowledge.

A Concrete Reminder

These visible flaws don’t simply remind us that God is perfect, of course. Their purpose is also to remind us that we ourselves are radically imperfect. Not simply morally flawed, but incomplete without God.  So my flawed rosary, whether through the (unintentional, no doubt) mistake of its maker, or some other mishap, can represent the flawed nature of all of us.

There is also a reminder here, however, of my own particular imperfection. I had carried that rosary in my pocket for seven or eight years. I didn’t use it every day. When I prayed the rosary in the car, as I often do, I would usually forgo the beads and use my fingers, in the interests of automotive safety. Nonetheless, I used it frequently enough that I ought to have noticed that it was one “Hail Mary” short.  Who knows how long I was oblivious? So, I have not only a symbol of human imperfection, but a very real, concrete reminder of my own broken nature, and in a very particular area.    

Be Vigilant at All Times

As it happens, when I first discovered the curious flaw in my rosary and set out to write about it, this was the Gospel reading for the day:

Jesus said to his disciples: “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”    (Luke 21:34-36)

We have just embarked on the Season of Lent. This penitential season hearkens back to Christ’s forty day fast in the desert in preparation for his earthly ministry.  It is a time of penance, and of purification, in which we are preparing our hearts for the trials of Holy Thursday and Good Friday, and the triumph of Easter Sunday. The warning Jesus gives to his disciples above is a warning to us as well: “Be vigilant at all times.”

My Work Cut out for Me

Two verses later we see the chief priests plotting to kill him, and Satan entering into Judas Iscariot.  This is Christ’s final warning before the Passion Narrative begins to unfold, to his disciples then and now.  Be vigilant.  As for me, it looks like I have my work cut out for me. And every time I put my hand in my pocket, I have a tangible warning of how far I have to go.

An earlier version of this Worth Revisiting post was first published November 29th, 2014.