The Nightwatch

It's the eve of what could be the beginning of yet another chapter of my life, including my faith life. Tomorrow night, I will begin producing and hosting a three-hour Catholic radio show in the Twin Cities called "The Nightwatch." It's a show which has been in my head for several years--a combination of contemporary Catholic music, spiritual sharing with--and by--listeners, and a bit of theater from radio's golden age.

I'm not really nervous about whether the show will be good: I've fallen on my face plenty of times, and, with God's help, gotten back up.

What has me more concerned is my own tendency toward a lack of humility. Most of the times that I have fallen on my face, it wasn't because I was doing a particularly poor job or because the project concept itself was bad, but because I grew to think that I was solely responsible for whatever success was realized.

"Pride goes before disaster, and a haughty spirit before a fall." --Proverbs 16:18

Now, there's an Old Testament verse which, if you think about it, belabors what should be obvious: God is the one who is in control, not us. So why do we keep forgetting that fact? Someone once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting the results to be different this time.

The truth taught by Jesus Christ is so sublimely simple that it borders on the ridiculous that we needed Him to come and teach us. He said that all of the law is summed up in the commandments to love God, and to love your neighbor. I'd like to think that he turned around to face the crowd and said, "Oh, and one other thing--learn from your mistakes."

I place "The Nightwatch" in His hands, and into the care of His--and our--Blessed Mother. May I remember that I am nothing but a useless servant, doing what He asks of me.