Luke 12:35-40
“Be ready for whatever comes, dressed for action and with your lamps lit, like servants who are waiting for their master to come back from a wedding feast. When he comes and knocks, they will open the door for him at once. How happy are those servants whose master finds them awake and ready when he returns! I tell you, he will take off his coat, have them sit down, and will wait on them. How happy they are if he finds them ready, even if he should come at midnight or even later! And you can be sure that if the owner of a house knew the time when the thief would come, he would not let the thief break into his house. And you, too, must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him.”
Being ready for a holiday takes a lot of planning, thinking, and booking of places to stay, let alone packing. We had even prepared an itinerary of precise locations to stay at, on particular days, checking when specific activities and points of interest were open. We thought carefully about items to fit in the limited space – clothing, food, and equipment. We were set for our Awesome Australian Mid-Year Adventure!
Yet, all of that became obsolete at an unexpected turn of life events. Instead of central Australia and desert country, we needed to be within easy distance of medical assistance and mobile connection. Shocked at first, we grieved over a lost opportunity. Then realised our Awesome Australian Mid-Year Adventure could happen without those precise locations or specific activities.
It was an Adventure that would be Awesome.
Baptism into life with God is too often related to precise ways of being, and specific practices within our religious life. However, ‘being ready’ with our soul’s lamps lit by the Spirit, and being companioned on the road with Jesus, means we are prepared to be immersed into any unexpected awesome adventure that comes before us – even if it is unexpected, and being revealed at a ‘midnight’ moment of life, or at the dawning of new horizons.
“How happy they are if he finds them ready,
even if he should come at midnight or even later!”
Prayer
At the dawning of a new day,
Light awaken me.
As my mind begins to open,
Light direct my inner vision.
As my soul awakens to possibilities,
Light shine on strengthening gifts.
As my heart stirs with emotion,
Light warm it with fiery rays.
Surround me. Fill me. Nestle deep within me.
So we journey the day together.
© Rev Anne Hewitt 03/08/2022
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