From the Pulpit

It is a fact of life in extreme South Florida, where I was born and grew up, that there are many transplants: People who moved there to retire, to find new jobs and opportunities, or to escape the harsh northern winters.

It was also not unusual to hear those transplanted folks say, “There are no seasons here” or “It’s just so flat” or “It all looks the same!”

Much more so than in the Panhandle, the seasonal changes in South Florida are perhaps more subtle, but they are present, nonetheless. And a closer, more careful look at the geography and the flora and fauna reveals a rich and varied land of awesome perplexity, wonder, majesty and beauty.

I was sad for folks who couldn’t or wouldn’t appreciate the beauty of my native land: For in a sense they were asleep; were not paying attention; were not watching. It is they who were flat in their imagination and not the land.

And, lest you think I’m singling out a particular people, let me be quick to say all of us suffer — to one degree or another — (though we usually do not see it as suffering) from lack of awareness, limited vision, semi-conscious non-wakefulness.

We are so used to seeing what we see and calling it reality.
In Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus offers a parable of the Kingdom.

He says, “The Kingdom of heaven will be like…” and then he tells the story of ten bridesmaids… and of a bridegroom whose arrival was delayed; of oil-lamps, five bridesmaids running out of oil and the other five having brought extra; and when the bridegroom finally arrives, those who had enough oil went into the banquet (an image of the Kingdom).

And those who did not have oil were left out… shut out.

And here’s the punch line: “Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (25:13) Keep awake!
It would have made more sense to the story if the admonition by Jesus was, like the scout motto, “Be prepared.”

But what Jesus says is something different — translated variously as:  Keep awake. Watch out. Be on the alert. Watch. Stay awake — all having the sense of awareness, of paying attention.

It’s like when Mr. Rochelle, my 6th grade teacher, sensing my mind was somewhere other than “in class,” suddenly called upon me to answer the question. In my daydreaming, I hadn’t even heard the question.

Keep awake. Watch out. Be on the alert. Watch. Stay awake.

Someone once said that spirituality is the art of paying attention.

The late Anthony de Mello, Jesuit priest known worldwide for his writings and spiritual conferences, and who draws on the wisdom of many of the great religions and faiths, says in his book on awareness, “Spirituality is waking up.”

It is being more aware. It is seeking reality and not being content with simply seeing what we see and calling it reality. Recall the visitor to South Florida: “It’s all the same. There are no seasons here.”

Perhaps we can hear this gospel lesson and the other parables of the Kingdom and Jesus’ admonition to “keep awake,” or “watch out,” or “watch,” or “be alert” in a new way.

To be awake means to pay attention, to be more aware, to desire and attempt to see beyond our perceptions and through our illusions to a deeper reality that is true, with a capital “T.”

To see — really to see — the creation as God’s… to see each thing created as precious and valuable… to see each human being as equal before God and to respect their dignity… to see injustice and oppression and exploitation where and when it occurs, and to speak out and redress it even when we are the ones doing the oppressing and exploiting… to see ourselves as we are, not through glasses colored by our illusions and appetites and fantasies… to be willing to be changed… to be transformed into the likeness of Christ — a condition for which we were created and are destined — and to risk letting go of much that is familiar and comfortable.

And finally, to keep awake, to be alert, to watch out, means to be on the alert for the coming of the bridegroom… the savior… the Lord… and to see signs of the Kingdom which not only belongs to a distant future but which is also present among you… very near.

The Rev. David B. Powell is Rector of St. Andrews By-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Destin.