delay not

1 corinthians 1:17-25; Ps 33 The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord; Mt 25:1-13

Shakespeare in one of his plays has this to say, "Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends."


Defer not time, delays have dangerous ends. 

Jesus puts it this way, 

"the foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with their lamps.  Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.  At midnight, there was a cry, 'Behold the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise replied, 'No. for there may not be enough for you and us.' 

While the foolish ones went off to but oil, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.  The door was locked.  Afterwards the other virgins came and said, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!' But he said in reply, Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'  

Therefore stay awake, for you know neither the day nor hour."

Often times I hear people speak in regards to this particular passage and condemn procrastination.  Now, my ears often prick up since I can procrastinate with the best of them. 

But I disagree.  This is not about procrastination, rather this is about the inability to plan ahead. 

How often we trust our own judgment more than we should? 
I often wonder about the 5 foolish virgins.  When they arrived at the site of waiting for the bridegroom and they noticed the other virgins with extra oil, what were they thinking. 

Perhaps they were snickering.  Perhaps they were blowing it off as being overly prepared.  Perhaps they trusted their own judgment a little too much.  Maybe they thought the other virgins with the extra oil looked a little foolish.  

I wonder what would have happened if they would have asked, "Do yo think he might be delayed?"  "I wonder if I a have enough oil?"  

What if they would have trusted the judgment of the other five who seemed to anticipate delay. 

The wise virgins may have looked foolish but in the end the feast was theirs.
I wonder about us sometimes, we who follow Christ.  I wonder about our judgment.  How many people snicker at us because we go to church on Sunday, because we don't move in with the person we are dating but wait until marriage, we don't use contraception in our marital unions but practice discipline, we stand up for life in the womb, we dress modestly, we practice celibacy as priest, we have monogamous relationships with our spouses.  

To the world we look foolish.  We are snickered at.  But I wonder what they will say in the end when the bridegroom arrives and our wicks are trimmed and lamps are shining, what then will they say.

Just a thought for today. 

One of the greatest delays we experience is the delay in asking questions.  How often we do not want to look the fool so we play it cool and pretend we know what we are doing? 

A simple question and little seeking advice might not have been a bad way to go for the foolish virgins. 

The thing about being foolish is it can always be corrected.

Defer not time, delays have dangerous ends.

The words of St. Paul, "but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the JEws and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Gentiles alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of GOd is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of GOd is stronger than human strength."