In the Gospel of Matthew we read the the Parable of the ten bridesmaids. There are 5 wise and 5 foolish who go out to meet the bridegroom. They become weary and fall asleep. When the shout goes out that he is coming the wise trim their wicks and use the oil they have brought. The foolish ask for some oil but are denied. They go to get some and return too late.
Firstly, it is 50-50. The odds are even. They ALL fall asleep – so technically none of them manage to keep watch. Realistically, it comes down to how prepared half were. It does seem a bit cut-throat – would not one share?
Yes I know I am taking it out of context and that the message was about being faithful and not slacking off and thinking that you can always fix things later – as later may not come. It is interesting though to take this parable and consider it in today’s times.
10 women and 1 man – the odds remain essentially in his favour. He gets to turn up whenever and everyone is waiting, there is even a welcome posse waiting for him to make sure he feels welcomed, Of the women, they do not help each other and seem to have a split between two essential types. What would that be today? Personally, I like to think we are inestimably more diverse than that so answering this thought is a challenge. Is it prepared v unprepared; haves v have-nots; or what if we take another angle? (As seems to be the trend I run off on a thought-tangent and then realise something)
Some of the women – who know how important it is to let their light shine – are not willing to give away what they need to allow this to happen.
We need to have women (or anyone for that matter) let their light shine. The light that shows the way. Too often we give away parts of ourselves (our oil) to others and then we cannot shine or light the way. We need to protect or at least treasure and appreciate the oil we have been blessed with and make sure we bring it to every dark night.
It always puzzled me that the bridesmaids would not share but when I think about the imagery of a light in the darkness it makes sense and is a challenge to women today, to not only be prepared, as we often are, but to treasure our own light. If we keep giving it away, we dim and limit our own light.
So what is our oil? What allows you to let your light shine? What feeds it? What makes it burn at its brightest? These are questions to spend some serious time on.
The Female Theologian 