Being Ready
Are we supposed to share or not?
"Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, 'Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise replied, 'No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.' - Matthew 25:1-9
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus tells of the bridesmaids who wait for the groom. Some are prepared for a long wait, while others are not.
Sometimes the parables of Jesus seem to contradict the vision we have of him. We see Jesus as one who would give and share with others, and yet here the bridesmaids will not share.
Perhaps he wants us to see ourselves the way we are, and not as we could be. Those who are prepared will hold onto what they have so they will not run out when the time comes. But what about the others?
It isn't that they don't have the money to buy more oil. In the end, they go off to try to find some. Are they just lazy?
Jesus calls them foolish. They were only partially prepared, but they could have been fully prepared. It was their choice to wait until the last minute to get what they needed.
This is not a story about sharing with those who have less. It is about missing out on life, waiting too long to get started with living.
How many days, weeks, months or years have we wasted in our lives?
Sometimes we wait until conditions are just right before we act. What if they are never right?
What is more likely is the opportunity to make a change will come when we are not ready, and we will let it slip by.
That is what the bridesmaids did, and they missed out on the feast.
If we want to truly enjoy al that God has in store for us, we must be ready to act. We shouldn't wait to be called, but instead should be packed and eager to go.
If not, we will see others take what could be ours and run with it.
More to come...