Preparation and Procrastination: The Ten Virgins

One of the most iconic elements of the Bible is the multitude of parables taught by Jesus Christ, occupying much of the doctrinal richness of the Four Gospels in the New Testament. I've been pondering one parable in particular, located in the first portion of Matthew 25: the parable of the ten virgins.

For those of you who aren't as familiar with the parable, I'll give a brief summary. It's a short, simple story about ten virgins who were invited to attend a wedding feast. In Jewish tradition, the groom--called the "bridegroom" historically--would get ready for the feast in his own home and then travel to the bride's home for the celebration, gathering the guests along the way.
The bridegroom didn't have a set time that he would arrive, so guests would line up along the pathway and wait. Expecting this, and perhaps other complications, five of the young women brought extra oil for their lamps. The other five didn't seem to anticipate that anything could go wrong.
The young women waited on the side of the road--primarily asleep--until the middle of the night, when a man came ahead of the bridegroom's party and announced that the bridegroom was coming. By this point, the oil of the five "foolish" virgins had burned entirely, and the five "wise" virgins had their spare oil to light their way to the feast. The five virgins who procrastinated asked for oil, but the wise virgins didn't have enough to spare; ultimately, the bridegroom didn't allow the foolish young women to enter the wedding feast.
Overall, the moral of the parable is well known: take time and thought to prepare for the coming of Christ, for none of us know when He will come. But I had a few more insights I wanted to go over.
First of all: why virgins? Why did Christ represent the entire believing-on-His-name population with young women? Well ... who is the most excited to attend a wedding? Young, unmarried women have incredible motivation and excitement when it comes to anyone's wedding. If the bridegroom or bride had been a close friend of these young women, that would have only allowed their excitement to escalate. Christ basically implied that we are already in a position to be excited about eternal life--all of us want to be happy, right? Everyone would rather go to a peaceful rest than a tormenting or dissatisfying one; we're excited to not be in pain anymore.
Second: how are we meant to gather oil? How do we know if we have enough spare oil? I think this question is answered largely as we become adults--specifically in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, our level of oil is measured by our lasting dedication. The idea is to keep your eye on the eternities, keep your motivation centered on what will matter most eternally and act accordingly. I hypothesize that the foolish virgins didn't bring spare oil because it seemed like an inconvenience; so really, do you treat the commandments of God like an inconvenience sometimes? That, to me, is the greatest question. If you can take God's commandments seriously, one day at a time, that will become the oil supply that you need to prove to the Lord that you have been waiting for Him.
Third: was it selfish of the wise virgins not to spare any of their oil? Sure, it is impossible to share righteous acts and motivations with someone, so we cannot share our oil. But had this hypothetical scenario taken place, should the wise virgins have shared their oil? Their response to the request from the foolish virgins was "Not so; lest there should not be enough for us and you." A few years ago, I would have pinned this as selfish, but it comes down to a principle often shared in the social sciences and in airplane safety policies: you can't help others if you can't be in a position of strength first. Families are found to crumble if the parents "sacrifice too much" for the children, giving their time and finances to their children and nothing else. Airplane safety states that you should put on your own oxygen mask before assisting those who can't help themselves. I think the wisdom of the prepared virgins applied in this instance as well: not only did this teach the foolish virgins not to procrastinate, but it echoed this principle of maintaining your own strength and ability to help before trying to help others.
I honestly had a lot of fun dissecting this parable, and I hope this helped some of you with questions, or at least helped you learn about the parable a little more. Have a great week!

The Meaning of Charity

Welcome!
Over the last week and a half, I've been pondering the idea of love, specifically in the context of charity, or the "pure love of Christ." I wrote an entry in my journal that I wanted to share--analyzing my feelings in the moment gave me the best results of expression.

I started with the basic definition of charity under Gospel Topics, and I got the Seminary answer: “Charity is the pure love of Christ.” Then the article elaborated and said that we have been commanded to have this love toward each other as people—that Christ loves us as humans in that way—and that it is the “highest, noblest, and strongest kind of love” that we can experience.

That same Gospel Topics section quoted Mormon’s letter to Moroni, describing the “fruits” of charity: long-suffering, kindness, lack of envy, lack of pride, seeking not one’s own, being uneasily provoked, thinking no evil, and rejoicing in truth rather than iniquity. Interesting that all of the traits we associate with the Savior spring from charity.

I want to look at why these traits emerge from charity. Long-suffering: He loves people so much that He understands the need to be patient, helping them to grow and feel loved. Kindness: why would He be angry and unkind if He loved someone? Lack of envy: Loving others restrains envious feelings, as He would rejoice in the successes of others or praise them for their capacities. Lack of pride: pride is enmity, the exact opposite of love. Seeking not His own: loving others would drive Him to look outside of Himself and seek to heal those who were willing to be healed. Being uneasily provoked: usually when we are provoked, it is by little things that don’t matter … things that ruin our relationships. By refusing to be easily provoked, He shows that the person matters more than His whims. Thinking no evil: evil, as defined by [psychology professor] Jordan Peterson, is the ability and decision to hurt other people. Charity, then, is the opposite of evil, while pride is its drive. Rejoicing in the truth: the truth has the capacity to heal and assist in growth while iniquity is a drug. If He truly loved someone, He would help them to find the truth, even if the truth hurt for a moment. “Discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.”

Before undergoing this analysis of charity, I didn't really understand it. I felt that charity was an undefinable, nebulous concept: in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we always define charity the same way, the way I mentioned in my entry ... because defining it in depth is such an immense undertaking. I feel like this entry was a minimal way of defining charity.
Charity truly is the lifestyle of Christ. Charity is the fundamental life pattern of seeking out only the best, of thinking about the benefit of others in conjunction with your own. I say in conjunction based on a quote from Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf: "Forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice." The idea of charity is not to destroy your body and soul trying to lift as many people as possible: it is overcoming your innate desires and wants for real love, real love for yourself in equality with real love for others. Often we refer to charity as putting others first because that is the lesson most people need to learn, but part of charity is providing yourself with the spiritual, physical, and emotional health to assist other people in their journey. It's just that loving others is often the part we struggle with, and so it is emphasized.
What opportunities can you take over the next few days to strengthen your charity? I can't tell you, but someone can. Find prayer again, find God and ask Him how you can better love the people around you and have the strength to lift others.