(Mark 13:35) Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back.

I have far too many watches. In fact, the contents of one of my desk drawers includes a small box packed to the top with watches.

• My mother's old gold Hamilton
• A Casio digital/analog Chronograph I bought in Tokyo in 1984
• A Gucci fashion design masterpiece I purchased from a street vendor in Bangkok
• Two Rolex Oystershells—one yellow gold the other white gold
• A brand new Sports Illustrated digital timepiece
• A Seiko (black face yellow gold badly-scratched crystal) that I wore for about 5 years
• Several watches of unknown heritage and marginal eye appeal
• A water-resistant quartz watch with a dial that turns

There were more, but I threw them away!

Most of these watches are remnants from my "have to travel in Asia" past. Those days were an adventure in creative purchasing. "Hello sir. Would you like to buy a Rolex?" I purchased several, distributing them to friends who knew how to laugh at the absurdity of $5 Rolexes and Guccis. However, most of them still sit in the box, foolish buys reflecting the momentary urge to buy something 'wild."

None of the old watches work anymore. Oh, they might if I put in a new battery, but the battery would cost more than I spent for the watch in the first place! Why would I want to do that when I do have three watches that tell perfectly accurate time. Plus, there are two clocks in my study, two more in the bedroom, one in the bath, three in the kitchen (wall, microwave, stove) and three more in the living room. All of those seem to be speaking the same time language, so I leave the remnants of my past "un-ticking" in the drawer.

Only the Sports Illustrated (which came with this year's subscription and is far too heavy for any wrist other than Jesse Ventura's) the old Seiko and the kinetic analog watch I have worn for three years are actually keeping time. The others are sleeping.

I care what time it is. I want to be on time for breakfast, early for appointments and never late for bed. I glance at the clocks on the wall, in my computer, on my Palm Pilot and I'm guided (controlled) by the watch on my wrist. It's good to be where others expect me to be a bit before they expect me to arrive. So, I watch the watches.

But maybe I'm so busy following the hands around that I'm missing the time. Maybe I should be watching the Master and setting my personal life-clock by His. Maybe I focus should be on only one Master Appointment. He's coming home and I want to be On Time.

—Dick Duerksen
duerksen@bigfoot.com