KEEP WATCH, BE READY

We have so much of almost everything in our modern world. So much stimulation; so many options and alternatives; so many devices! The 40GB laptop of twenty years ago is laughable – an iPhone has over 500GB. All the written technical information of the mid twentieth century fits easily on the memory stick in your pocket today. Encyclopaedia Britannica would take up about 1 GB of that. So much information, but are we wiser in the things that matter?

Our technical interconnectedness and video calling loved ones has been a blessing during Covid crisis; perhaps less so attending many video meetings. But our data and our contact apparatus are only tools. At times we can relate a little to those foolish virgins (Matt 25:1-13), distracted by trivia and losing focus on the meaning of life. Jesus teaches us to, “Stay awake, because you do not know either the day or the hour”. (Mt 25:13)

Wisdom, often personified as female in scripture, waits for us, looks us in the eye, shows us what is important (Wis 6:12-16). But how rarely do we pause to reflect, to seek out that wisdom, to explore who, what, where, and why we are? All the data at our fingertips, all the purchasing options, all the swiping options to discover relationship, are as nothing come that day and hour. Nothing we’ve heard or watched, texted or googled can help us now. If we haven’t reflected on the only important matter, we’ll be like those flighty bridesmaids.

But if we seek wisdom now, we will be prepared come that day and encouragingly, “Even thinking about her is understanding fully grown (Wis 6:15).” Pausing to contemplate wisdom, we are already on the track to finding it. We reflect on the wise people we have encountered. What does their wisdom look like? What does it look like for me? How do I stay awake to the only thing of true importance?

Deacon Mark Kelly