FIVE ALERT GIRLS

PRAYER MOMENT

Friday 30 August 2013

FIVE ALERT GIRLS

Pause. Recall that you are in the presence of God. .

Reading. “Lord, Lord, open the door for us.” He replied, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you.” (Matt 25:1-13)

Reflection. This is the story of the five foolish and five wise bridesmaids. Traditionally it got filed away as a parable to do with the end of time or the end of our lives: “Be ready when the Lord comes.” But it also has a wider lesson for us reaching into every moment of our day. I had a visitor recently and it struck me how alert she was to everyone she met and every situation. She seemed tirelessly adaptable and poured out a stream of questions. No doubt that level of attentiveness is hard to sustain when you are in your own country among your own people but it is still an image of the alertness we are called to. Another word for it, becoming popular by the day, is consciousness: being aware of everything around me in the present moment and not spending my time regretting the past or dreaming about the future.

Prayer. Lord Jesus, help me to be alert to the people and events of my day. Help me to notice! Life is not a matter of years but of moments. Teach me to be deeply conscious of what is happening around me and within me. Amen.