A clay lamp holds very little oil. It has to be tended, and it goes out quickly if it is not.
This is the image Jesus chooses for readiness. Not a bonfire. A lamp that someone keeps returning to.
There is a quiet mercy in that. The question is never whether your light is impressive. It is whether it is tended.
Most of the spiritual collapses I have walked people through were not dramatic. Nothing broke. The lamp simply was not tended for a long time, and one day the room was dark.
And the repair is equally undramatic. You do not need to relight everything at once. You need oil today, and then tomorrow.
So do not set yourself a heroic practice this week. Set a small one you can keep on your worst day, because your worst day is when a lamp matters.
