There is a site on the internet, the Monks of Adoration, that has a Webcam in its adoration chapel.
I have it bookmarked and check in frequently. I know it's just a
picture, no different than any other picture taken with a digital
camera, or any other camera for that matter. It's certainly not the
same as visiting the Blessed Sacrament in person, just as seeing a
picture of a loved family member is not the same as being with them.
Still, when you can't get there, it's as close as you can get since the
picture is no more than a minute old. It's very comforting to just
click and see a picture of Jesus that is just seconds old.
Normally, the Webcam is up and the lights on, 24/7. Sometimes (right
now, actually) when you click, the lights in the chapel are out. Could
be a power failure, or some other reason for darkness. But you can
still see the light next to the tabernacle, sometimes ever so faintly,
sometimes brighter, but always there (at least as long as the site
itself is up).
It's odd, but when I see the light in the darkness, I'm not
disappointed that I can't see the Blessed Sacrament, or at least the
tabernacle. The light in the darkness comforts me. We're going through
some tough times right now. At times I wonder if our lives will ever
stabilize. When I see the light in the dark chapel, it reminds me that
no matter how dark it may seem, Jesus is still there. In the toughest
of times, in the darkest of nights, He's always there.
Another time, my laptop was on a table next to the bed. At times
I'll leave it set to the chapel, so it's the last thing I see at night,
the first in the morning. We were going through [yet another ;-)]
difficult time and sleep was fitful. I'd wake at various times during
the night, look over, see the tabernacle, and fall back to sleep,
knowing we were watched over. In the morning, I looked over, saw Jesus
in the monstrance, again felt that peace, and got up to start the day.
It was then I noticed something strange... the clock was blank, all the
lights out... apparently sometime during the night the electricity had
gone out. A storm I had slept right through had caused the electricity
to go out. Still, Jesus was there.
Now, since I use a laptop, when the electricity went out, the
battery kicked in and kept the computer going. The modem (cable modem
at the time) was electric and not on. With a refresh rate of once a
minute, the browser would normally send a page request and get a fresh
copy of the page and graphic once every 60 seconds. With the modem out,
the browser would request the page, not be able to get a response, and
return a "Cannot find server" page. When I realized what happened, I
hit "Refresh" and got the expected error page. I have no idea why the
Webcam page was still there. I consider myself fairly tech savvy, but
I'm no expert. There very well could be some logical explanation, but,
as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter. Jesus was there when I
needed Him to be.
There's a powerful lesson there. No matter how dark the night, Jesus
is there, watching over us whether we feel His presence or not. And
nothing, not dark of night, storms, or cyber-quirks can keep Him away.
