Jesus told this parable:
"The kingdom of heaven will be like ten who went out to meet the bridegroom; Five of them were foolish and five were wise”. Matthew 25
Calvin is the young boy in the cartoon series created by Bill Watterson in the delightful cartoon series Calvin & Hobbes. Calvin comes marching up to his mother who is seated in a living room chair, having her morning cup of coffee. Calvin is wearing one of his “homemade outfit.”
His head is encased in a large space helmet, while a cape drapes across his shoulder down to the floor.
“Well, Calvin, what's up today?" asks his mom.
"Nothing so far," he responds
"'So far?" she questions.
"Well, you never know, something could happen today!"
As Calvin strides off, turns, and throws the cape across his shoulder, he says, "And if anything does, by golly, I'm going to be ready for it!"
As he disappears down the hallway, his mom looks pensive.
"I need an outfit like that."
Calvin’s mom wants what all of us desire and what the foolish ones of the Gospel forgot. We want to be prepared for whatever happens; to be ready for whatever we will face.
Sadly, there is no “outfit” to accomplish this.
Jesus reminds us that the things of this life are temporary. Life can abruptly change, sometimes forever. These days of pandemic have only re-enforced those lessons. Time is a gift for which we don’t need an “outfit.”
We need an appreciation to see our lives as previously short and fragile. We should commit ourselves to not put off what is truly important.
We need to be seeking our God by lives of care, concern, and compassion for others.
The “outfit” we need is putting on the attitude and the actions of Christ.
We can’t wait….tomorrow may be too late!
