"Keep awake, then, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming. Evening or midnight, cock-crow or early dawn - if he comes suddenly, he must not find you asleep. And what I say to you, I say to everyone: keep awake" (Mark, 13: 35:37).
In our quest for happiness, the world would lull us into sleep with sense pleasures and imaginations of what a good life should be. We actually sleep internally and spiritually of which our lethargy and uncontrolled bodily sleepiness are mere symptoms. We have to be awake to the reality around us for which our internal awakening is a necessity. When we identify ourselves with the visible world through our body, senses, imaginations, intellect and will, we are in danger of being caught up in deep internal sleep. We forget about the antidote to our sleepiness deposited in the energy of our soul. Actually, it is this energy that activates life in our body and its various faculties, namely, our mind consisting of intellect and will and the five senses. Keeping awake, therefore, demands that we give due importance to the central place our soul occupies in us.
The coming of Jesus as the master of the House of God applies both to his second coming as well as to the time of our death. Since no one knows the time of death, it is only prudent to be ready always to open the door to the master when he comes. The parable of the ten virgins tells us clearly how to be alert and be ready to receive the bridegroom at whatever time he comes. While the five prudent virgins took oil with their lamps, the foolish ones had only the lamps without any oil. Although all of them slept, the prudent ones were able to join the procession to receive the bridegroom, whereas the foolish ones could not, as they were unable to light their lamps without oil. Going out to buy the oil at the last minute cost them their chance to be with the bridegroom. Keeping awake, therefore, does not mean to abstain from bodily sleep, but to be prepared for the occasion (Matthew, 25:1-13), although sometimes it may be necessary to abstain from even bodily sleep to fight off severe temptations through prayer (Mark, 14: 37-42).
How should we lead our life in order to be awake and be alert at the proper time? Jesus is our model to shape our life according to his prescriptions as well as his own practices. This implies that we turn ourselves in to him for training as his disciples. When Jesus was 12 years old, Mary, his mother, was stunned to hear the reply he gave to her on inquiry why he stayed back in the Temple without his parents' knowledge. "Did you not know that I was bound to be in my Father's house?" (Luke, 2:49). This was an indication of what kind of a mission Jesus came into the world for sent by his Father in heaven. In other words, doing the Will of God was his sole mission for which all other relationships had to give way. The same applies to us as we are bound to love God first and foremost leaving our father, mother and all intimate relationships behind. Here, what we have to do is to get rid of false attachments to everything and everybody in order to be totally attached to God Total attachment to God does not preclude our responsibilities to our loved ones as we shall see below about 'logical priority'. Physical separation does not necessarily achieve the purpose. Jesus carried forward this attitude until his death on the cross so that he could say: "it is accomplished" (John, 19:30). Jesus accomplished perfectly his Father's Will and yet interacted with people normally without keeping himself away from the crowds except for prayer and meditation.
Our problem is about how to combine the two: doing God's Will and carrying out our daily tasks in the world. The secret of a genuine spiritual life is hidden in this combination. God's Will has to be first and foremost without diminishing our involvement in our daily duties. This is achieved by placing God's Will at the center of our life and keeping our worldly involvements at its periphery. Both are easily combined if we remember that a 'first' can be either one of importance (Logical priority in Philosophy) or that of chronological priority, i.e., first in time. Even if we have to be engaged in our daily duties chronologically first, the importance of the Will of God is not diminished if we place it at the center of our attitudes. The same principle applies in our praying always, i.e., the spirit of prayer pervading all our activities. Of course, for this to happen, we have to keep awake!
In our quest for happiness, the world would lull us into sleep with sense pleasures and imaginations of what a good life should be. We actually sleep internally and spiritually of which our lethargy and uncontrolled bodily sleepiness are mere symptoms. We have to be awake to the reality around us for which our internal awakening is a necessity. When we identify ourselves with the visible world through our body, senses, imaginations, intellect and will, we are in danger of being caught up in deep internal sleep. We forget about the antidote to our sleepiness deposited in the energy of our soul. Actually, it is this energy that activates life in our body and its various faculties, namely, our mind consisting of intellect and will and the five senses. Keeping awake, therefore, demands that we give due importance to the central place our soul occupies in us.
The coming of Jesus as the master of the House of God applies both to his second coming as well as to the time of our death. Since no one knows the time of death, it is only prudent to be ready always to open the door to the master when he comes. The parable of the ten virgins tells us clearly how to be alert and be ready to receive the bridegroom at whatever time he comes. While the five prudent virgins took oil with their lamps, the foolish ones had only the lamps without any oil. Although all of them slept, the prudent ones were able to join the procession to receive the bridegroom, whereas the foolish ones could not, as they were unable to light their lamps without oil. Going out to buy the oil at the last minute cost them their chance to be with the bridegroom. Keeping awake, therefore, does not mean to abstain from bodily sleep, but to be prepared for the occasion (Matthew, 25:1-13), although sometimes it may be necessary to abstain from even bodily sleep to fight off severe temptations through prayer (Mark, 14: 37-42).
How should we lead our life in order to be awake and be alert at the proper time? Jesus is our model to shape our life according to his prescriptions as well as his own practices. This implies that we turn ourselves in to him for training as his disciples. When Jesus was 12 years old, Mary, his mother, was stunned to hear the reply he gave to her on inquiry why he stayed back in the Temple without his parents' knowledge. "Did you not know that I was bound to be in my Father's house?" (Luke, 2:49). This was an indication of what kind of a mission Jesus came into the world for sent by his Father in heaven. In other words, doing the Will of God was his sole mission for which all other relationships had to give way. The same applies to us as we are bound to love God first and foremost leaving our father, mother and all intimate relationships behind. Here, what we have to do is to get rid of false attachments to everything and everybody in order to be totally attached to God Total attachment to God does not preclude our responsibilities to our loved ones as we shall see below about 'logical priority'. Physical separation does not necessarily achieve the purpose. Jesus carried forward this attitude until his death on the cross so that he could say: "it is accomplished" (John, 19:30). Jesus accomplished perfectly his Father's Will and yet interacted with people normally without keeping himself away from the crowds except for prayer and meditation.
Our problem is about how to combine the two: doing God's Will and carrying out our daily tasks in the world. The secret of a genuine spiritual life is hidden in this combination. God's Will has to be first and foremost without diminishing our involvement in our daily duties. This is achieved by placing God's Will at the center of our life and keeping our worldly involvements at its periphery. Both are easily combined if we remember that a 'first' can be either one of importance (Logical priority in Philosophy) or that of chronological priority, i.e., first in time. Even if we have to be engaged in our daily duties chronologically first, the importance of the Will of God is not diminished if we place it at the center of our attitudes. The same principle applies in our praying always, i.e., the spirit of prayer pervading all our activities. Of course, for this to happen, we have to keep awake!
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