Today's readings keep circling one small household item: oil. Exodus commands lamps in God's tent that must never go out. Jesus tells of ten bridesmaids, five of whom brought oil, and five of whom brought only lamps.

The difference between the two groups looked invisible until midnight, and readiness usually does. Nobody can tell from the outside who has been quietly gathering. Check your own supply as you read today.

The five foolish bridesmaids were not wicked; they were unprepared, which at midnight amounted to the same thing. Oil in this story is the unglamorous, renewable stuff of readiness: the daily prayer, the habit of the Word, the quiet supply nobody sees. It cannot be borrowed at midnight, because it can only be gathered beforehand.

The tabernacle lamps got their standing order for the same reason: some fires are meant to be maintained, not relit. So tend yours while the Bridegroom delays. Trade a little silver for instruction, as Wisdom urges. Commit your spirit into the hands David trusted and Jesus trusted. Then sleep if you must; your lamp will not.