But did the slaves really need a doorkeeper to alert them to the master’s return? Could it be that the slaves were guilty of only doing their jobs once they thought the master was returning.  There’s a greater point here of course. Waiting for the second coming shouldn’t be a big cosmic game of ‘Dixie’. The point is not to wait for the master’s return before hurling ourselves into a great whirlwind of things we should have been doing all along. We’re not waiting for Jesus’ return in the same way we would wait for a bus, we have to spend our waiting time in preparation and constant readiness.

“Keep alert,” we are told “keep awake.” We are asked to keep alert and awake not for fear of being caught out like naughty school children, but in a spirit of ‘keeping our eye on the ball.’ We all know how we would like to contribute. Each of us is aware of our unique place on the planet and how we would like to be remembered. Sadly, all too often it is easy for us to ‘take our eye off the ball’ and get caught up in other concerns.

At the moment the news is full of people who have reached the end of their life unexpectedly. None of us has been afforded an exact time and date for our final preparations. We cannot afford to play ‘Cosmic Dixie’ Instead we are asked to live in a permanent state of readiness seizing every opportunity on a daily basis to prepare for God’s Kingdom. Our Advent goal needs to be about waiting in readiness from this day onwards.