The Lost Car and Wakefulness

 

There was a time about 30 years ago. I had taught a night traffic school class in the Bay Area and I was the last to leave the campus - I thought.

 

There was a bewildered looking elderly man in the parking lot. I can't remember if he was one of my students or had been in one of the other classes our company had going.

 

He could not remember where he had parked his car either (I have been there before and since).

 

So, he got in mine and we started driving up and down the streets around the high school.

 

After no small amount of time, with his sedan not inside, I had a bright idea.

 

"George (or Bob or Harry), Do you happen to have another car?"

 

The lights suddenly came on and he exclaimed,"

 

"I drove my van!"

 

"And there it is!!!!

 

Bingo!

 

He was aware of everything that he was looking for through the lens of his understanding of possibility. When he opened his mind to new possibilities, he found what he was really looking for - not his car, but his van!

 

There are many ways we might cultivate a lack of awareness, generally. by not cultivating awareness ... or wakefulness.

 

Or, by not entertaining all of the possibilities.

 

Readings for Today on Readiness

Isaiah. 5:8-12,18-23

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Luke 21:20-28

 

For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ... stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

 

 

Isaiah. 5:8-12,18-23

 

Ah, you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you, and you are left to live alone in the midst of the land! The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing: Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.

For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield a mere ephah.

 

Ah, you who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger in the evening to be inflamed by wine, whose feasts consist of lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine, but who do not regard the deeds of the Lord, or see the work of his hands!

 

Ah, you who drag iniquity along with cords of falsehood, who drag sin along as with cart ropes, who say, "Let him make haste, let him speed his work that we may see it; let the plan of the Holy One of Israel hasten to fulfillment, that we may know it!"

 

Ah, you who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Ah, you who are wise in your own eyes, and shrewd in your own sight!

 

Ah, you who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant at mixing drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of their rights!

 

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

 

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When they say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!

 

But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.

 

So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night.

 

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

 

For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

 

Luke 21:20-28

 

“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it; for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfillment of all that is written. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."

 

"There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken."

 

"Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory."

 

"Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."