David Anguish
The "Perspectives" page of the January 10 issue of Newsweek had five items on Y2K. A cartoon showed several panicked reporters warning of possible catastrophes over the caption, "the real Y2K problem." In another, a wife stood, broom in hand, with her husband in a wrecked living room and told him, "Y2K? No, this was the kids home from school forthe holidays." A brief quote from a Rose Bowl ticket agent said, "Y2K this, Y2K that. I've just heard enough of it."
The other two items - a quote and a cartoon - capture the mood many expressed beginning January 2. The cartoon depicted a garage sale with enormouse supplies of bottled water and other emergency items. The quotation, from Mac Slingerlend, chief executive of Englewood, Colorado's Ciber, Inc., commented on the precarious fate of Internet start-ups specializing in Y2K consulting. "Here today, gone tomorrow" were his words.
Was it all much ado about nothing? Exaggeration by reporters with little else to talk about? A staged panic by suppliers of emergency supplies anxious to cash in on the concern? Most of the comments we've heard tend to agree that Y2K was little more than hype.
Frankly, we're not so sure. Oh, there was hype. Some people did overreact. And certainly things did not turn out to be as bad as some had warned they might be. In truth, it seemed clear for several weeks that there would be little to worry about. Banks, governments, airlines and others assured the public that their services were up to speed. What anxiety remained resulted more from the concern that somewhere, someone had not prepared and that their laxness would create a chain reaction which would make useless the preparations of the majority (though NBC's Today show reported that the Pentagon has acknowledged a three-day Y2K glitch affecting satellites).
Preparation is the key word. The lesson from Y2K is not that of chicken little ("the sky is falling") or the boy who cried wholf. It's the lesson of "the ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. For when the foolish took lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps (Matthew 25:1-4, NASB). The story goes on to relate that all fell asleep while awaiting the delayed groom. The foolish, having to replenish their oil reserves, missed his arrival and were barred from the feast. The prudent, prepared and therefore ready, enjoyed things as planned.
Jesus applied his story this way: "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour" (v 13). It's a consistent theme in his teaching. The parable of the talents, which follows that of the ten virgins, make it (Matt 25:14-30), as does the direct teaching about sheep and goats (Matt 25:31-46). In Mark 13:33-36, the story is that of a man who took a journey, leaving his slaves to run the household. Again, the point is preparation. "What I say to you I say to all, 'Be on the alert!'" Jesus said (v 36).
Much of Luke 12 teaches the same. Don't be like the hypocritical Pharisees (vv 1-3). Live lives of faith, free from the temptation to greed and over-reliance on the material (vv 4-34). In a variation on the ten virgins story, Jesus exhorts us to "be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast" (v 36). Or, be like one always prepared for the possibility that a thief may try to steal his precious possessions (vv 39-40ff).
Whether for the work we need to do in this life, or to be ready for the life to come, Jesus' message remains the same. Be ready. Make necessary preparations. And know that you'll be accountable for your actions.