Sherry Sterling

Dear friends,

We are in the third week of Advent, focusing on joy in our waiting for Jesus’ birth and the salvation he brings. In these past weeks of Advent, we have moved through hope and preparation, peace and penitence, and now joy—and still waiting for Christmas.

I don’t know about you, but when I’m waiting, the quality of the waiting can feel different depending on what I’m waiting for. Waiting for a doctor’s appointment about test results, I often feel anxious. Waiting for a choral concert, I’m excited and joyful. 

Either way, I’m already living, ahead of time, what I anticipate I’ll be experiencing when the moment comes.

I tend to anticipate in the direction of what I’ve lived before. So, because I’ve enjoyed choral concerts in the past, I imagine I’ll like the one coming up. Because I’ve had varying results from tests at the doctor’s, I brace for the worst, even if that’s not the news that ultimately comes.

In today’s gospel reading, Matthew 25: 1-13, Jesus tells a parable about the Kingdom of Heaven, saying it’s like Ten Virgins and their oil lamps, going to meet the bridegroom to start the wedding feast. Half of the women carry extra oil along with their lamps; half carry only their lamps. 

When the bridegroom came later than expected, and the women were awakened from their sleep, those with extra oil could respond, while the others had to attend to lamps that were going out. 

The women who brought extra oil were already anticipating the possibility that the bridegroom’s timing could be unpredictable. They knew him and his ways. 

They were living, ahead of time, what they have experienced before, in relationship with him.

The women who didn’t bring extra oil were not even prepared to be waiting. They didn’t know him.

When the women who needed oil asked for some, those who brought it didn’t share. Taken on the surface, this seems unkind. But considering the oil as a symbol of relationship, it has a deeper meaning. For who can offer another in a mere moment the essence of a relationship that’s been grown over time?

It is up to us to get to know the bridegroom/Christ in our day to day. No one can do that for us. And then our waiting can be filled with the joy of already knowing.

Peace and love,

—Sherry