The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) most aptly illustrates the blessings I am present to.
"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.
"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'
"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
"The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'
"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'
"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"
Analogous to this is Luke 12:48: "Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more."
What I get from these verses of scripture is that the Almighty has generously gifted us with extraordinary graces - talents, abilities, ways of being - that He trusts us to cultivate, utilize, and grow. Each of us has unique gifts from above, and the "challenge" is how we shall best use them and thereby proclaim the Giver's glory.
The ordinary perspective is to prioritize, sacrifice, choose the talent with the most potential - abandoning the rest. Thus we have lawyers who secretly desire to be novelists, doctors whose heart's passion is to create art, employees who covertly wish to be entrepreneurs.
My take on the Parable of the Talents, and many other verses of Scripture, is that the good Lord actually wants us to take EVERYTHING on. I am not a lawyer to the exclusion of everything else I do - I am a lawyer, a senior Partner of the firm AND I am a cook, entertainer, singer, lay missionary, entrepreneur, agent, publisher, editor, writer, educator, and so on and so forth. All at the same time.
Our lives are not meant to be a matter of multiple choice, but instead, a choice of all of the above. This is one of the biggest things I got out of my Landmark education - you can have it ALL. Really. And when I start to embrace having it all, much more becomes available. I become present to the availability of being, doing, expressing, having everything I've ever wanted, without sacrificing (in the sense of having to give up) anything else. And then I get present to that so much more is being given to me.
The conversation no longer becomes about having too much on your plate - it becomes about getting a bigger one. And that's an exciting point of view from which I choose to stand. Next talent, please?
No comments:
Post a Comment