“Through love to light, O wonderful the way
That leads from darkness to the perfect day!
From darkness and from sorrow of the night,
To morning that comes singing o’er the sea.
Through love to light; through light, O God, to thee,
Who art the love of love; the eternal light of light.”
An onlooker could not have told in the early hours of the evening which were the wise virgins and which the foolish. It was not until midnight that the difference became apparent. Even then, for a moment, the ten virgins seemed all in the same plight. They all had been asleep, and when they were suddenly awakened the lamps of all were going out. The difference then appeared – five had no oil with which to refill their lamps; the other five had made provision in advance, and were quickly ready to go out to meet the bridal procession.
Life is full of just such tragedies as occurred that midnight. Thousand of people in all lines of experience fail because they have neglected their preparation at the time when preparation was their one duty. The reserve of oil was the central feature in the preparation of the wise virgins – that was what made them ready at midnight. The want of this reserve was the cause of the failure of the other five. The teaching is that we should always make even more preparation than what seems barely necessary. Our safety in life is in the reserve we have in store.
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