“Look for something that you like in your artwork today,” I said to my class of first-graders, “it might be something that surprises you.” Slowly, each one would stand up and name something they liked: the way a color ran, how the clay felt, what patterns a potato-stamp made. Some were shy and some were confident, but all began to look for moments of joy in their own work to name in our weekly sessions.
In our class, there was never a time when someone, who could not see something they liked about their own work, was left hanging in their own cloud of doubt. Another student would always speak up: “I see something special! It’s the way white and blue overlap there in the corner.” Caring community began like that and the kids included everyone.
In the gospel reading for tomorrow, Jesus tells a puzzling story about wise and foolish virgins.* Some brought enough oil for a late-night celebration and some didn’t. But the so-called wise ones would not share what they had with those who didn’t prepare and once the celebration begins, the latecomers were shut out.
This parable seems to contradict parables that Jesus told about sharing what we have with those who have less, but he also told a series of stories about the need for learning, for practice, and this is one of them. In a world full of conflict and greed, it takes effort and practice to see beyond the surface, to notice the presence of kindness, goodness, beauty, generosity, and to practice naming that so others can see it too.
Like children in a weekly art class, becoming wise takes repetition: looking, noticing, naming, and sharing the response with others. In that light, bringing enough oil for a late-night arrival becomes an invitation to stay awake looking for signs of God’s grace and not a warning about exclusion and punishment.
