“Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Matthew 25:13).
I recently heard a strange story in the news. There was a woman who had fallen asleep on an Air Canada flight. When she finally woke up, she discovered that she had been left on the plane alone, locked in and in complete darkness.
The woman was very distressed about this and the news story focused on her distress and feelings of helplessness at having been left behind and being unable to open the door of the plane to exit the plane, as she had been locked into it.
Finally, she was able to find a flashlight and use that signal a baggage handler on the tarmac, who was able to arrange for her to safely exit the aeroplane.
And I have been thinking about that today. You see, the woman falling asleep on the plane and being left behind it not very different from the bridesmaids falling asleep at the gate with untrimmed wicks in their lamps and no oil to light the way for the groom. And that lack of preparation, while initially not an issue, quickly becomes problematic when the individual realises that they are unable to go back in time to rectify what has become a serious problem…
“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.' And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' But he replied, 'Truly I tell you, I do not know you.' Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:1-13).
And though I do not judge the poor woman for falling asleep on the plane, I do wonder how much I sleep through important things in my earthly life… And I am not speaking of the physical sleep – I am speaking of the spiritual sleep of not accepting responsibility for the preparations that I need to make in order to be ready for my Beloved… And it seems to me today, as I consider the story of that woman trapped on that plane, that I am in danger of spending eternity trapped forgotten in the dark and away from my Beloved, because I am sleeping when I should be preparing – for I shall have eternity to rest, if only I do the WORK now…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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