At first blush today’s parable can appeared counter Christian. After all, aren’t called to share what we have with others? Especially when they need a little assistance finding God – their Bridegroom. Yes, as Christians we are indeed called to generosity and sharing. However, we can’t share our personal love relationship with our Triune God any more than a lover can share their love with anyone other than their beloved. The love we share with another, especially God, is unique to each individual and it cannot be duplicated. This is the case with the wise virgins in today’s parable.
Loving God
The wise virgins had cultivated their love relationship with Christ and it was unique to each of them. Their deep bond with Christ opened the door into the glorious wedding feast. Their mature love relationship with him is symbolized by the oil in their lamps – I like to think of it as divine oil. It is perfect love.
Once oil is ignited it burns and a bright light comes forth. This light then allows us to see through the darkness. Without oil (or electricity…) we remain in darkness. The wise virgin’s oil was burning bright for the Lord and it provided light in the darkness they faced in the world. The foolish virgins, on the other hand, didn’t fully cultivate their love relationship with Christ and as a result they didn’t have enough divine oil to see them through to the wedding feast.
Detachment
How can we become like the wise virgins – full of divine oil? Well, I think many of you are aware that I am drawn to the thought of our church mystics – Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, Francis of Assisi, and Meister Eckhart just to name a few. I spend considerable time sitting with their thought on my journey into a deeper love relationship with our Triune God. One of the things they frequently touch upon is the practice of detachment – detaching from everything that separates the soul from complete union with God.
I believe that the wise virgins practiced detachment from the world. As a result of this detachment they arrived at a place of spiritual union with Christ. What does this mean for us today? Well, the world is full of things we can become easily attached to. From success to people to emotions, we live in a sea of distractions.
Our Merchants
To become utterly detached from these distractions we must go to them, we must go to the merchants. In our relationship with our merchants we are presented opportunities to find divine oil. Our merchants come in many forms – all are unique to each individual. These merchants the people we have relationships with. Sometimes we exchange love and the emotions congruent with love such as joy, peace, gratitude, and forgiveness. However, sometimes we exchange anger and the emotions congruent with anger such as fear, hate, jealousy, and unforgiveness.
Going to the Desert
Finding healing in our love relationships requires something of us – not our merchants (they are on their own journey). We must choose to turn to our Triune God and ask him to help us become detached from what we think we need in our relationships with our merchants – even our need for love. Yes, even love as we understand it to be can limit our ability to receive divine oil. After all, God does not love like human beings love. His love is always bigger.
All too often human love is conditional or it comes at the price of heartache. God loves as only God can love – free of conditions and free from heartache. His love is still, constant, flowing, and infinite all at once. It is beyond time. His love is bigger than our human heart and mind can begin comprehend. Yet, this love is available to us – it can flow through us.
I believe Godly love is the divine oil the wise virgins carried in their lamps. In order to become full of this divine oil we must empty ourselves of all attachment to the world. In order to do this we can take a que from our early church fathers and mothers – we can go to the desert. Our early church fathers and mothers left the merchants and went into the desert to commune with God – just like Jesus did many times. I personally find my desert in the Adoration Chapel at my home parish – the place where I practice quite Contemplative Prayer.
Loving Like God
So many people are hurting today. Our relationships with the merchants in our lives are strained – especially the merchants in our families. From the comments I see from most of our readers I witness a common thread – our hearts are broken because our families are broken and hurting. Addictions, excluded family members, attacks on our families, and human heartache all separate us from peace. If you are hurting I invite you to sit in your desert and open yourself to the message God has for you through Contemplative Prayer. If you are looking for ways to pray then I invite you to visit my web-page on prayer: Fasting of the Mind. Allow yourself to become detached to the point that there is nothing of you in your relationship with your merchants – there is only God. Once this detachment happens you open a space for God to enter in and fill you with his Love – the perfect divine oil we seek.
Global Light For Christ (GLFC)
We are a community striving to grow in love. If you are seeking to become healed of wounds that can only be healed through the love of Jesus please leave your petition below. We always strive to more fully surrender to the will of our Triune God and together we can make a difference in the world. Let’s pray that we all witness God’s love in the world.
God bless all of you. See you next week Friday – Carolyn
To learn more about my work and my ministry please visit my website at: CarolynBerghuis.com
God the Father – hold us in your Fatherly love.
Sacred Heart of Jesus – heal us with your divine love.
God the Holy Spirit – immerse us in divine love.
