Verse 44: “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”
Life is full of the unexpected! In our day-to-day experiences, unexpected feelings, emotions, thoughts, and body sensations often show up. They can stir us in unanticipated ways and directions. When we seek to be aware and consciously live in our body-mind, we pay attention to and value our inner experiences. We realize that our affects and body sensations are messengers through which the Self/God Within makes itself known to our ego.
Theologically, the Scripture quoted above is usually interpreted as referring to the Christ’s return to the earthly dimension. From the perspective of Jungian psychology, the Son of Man connects us to the essence of the Self/God Within. Carl Jung stated that each individual psyche (soul) has a gradient (or direction) in which the libido/life force flows. Whatever blocks our ability and readiness to receive, integrate, act on, and embody the promptings of our Self/God Within has to be made conscious and cleared. Perhaps, this is what it means to “be ready, for the Son of Man is coming.”
The work of consciousness, also known as enlightenment or salvation, always involves clearing the beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, conditioning, etc. that block the natural movement of the Self/God Within into our ways of experiencing and living. Pain alerts us to these blocks. We may experience pain physically in the body, emotionally in our feelings and relationships, mentally in life-negating thoughts and images, or spiritually in passive or inert moods or energy states.
Our culture places a premium on avoiding pain at all costs. Pain of all kinds is quickly medicated, numbed, or denied. Prescription drugs, mood-altering substances, overeating, obsessions (with people, sex, work, hobbies, etc.), television or internet preoccupations, and addictive behaviors are only a handful of the destructive coping tactics that numb the messenger pain of the Self/God Within. Blaming God or other people is another response that colludes with what blocks our soul’s energy.
Inner Reflection
Take a few minutes to reflect on your readiness to move when Self/God Within prompts. Where are you feeling the wake up messengers of Spirit in excitement and expansion or in pain and constriction? What are the unprocessed emotions and feelings that create the constriction? What will support you to live more fully the truth of who you are as a ray of the Divine? Set a sacred intention to “be ready” for the movement of Spirit in and through you.