Seeds

Why a blog from me?

Why Five Talents?

Don't I have enough to do as it is? Will anyone read it? In the universe of the internet does anyone care about what I have to say? Hmmmmm......

Good questions and I could get stuck right there and not do a thing. Go back to watching TV or reading some other guys blog or take a well deserved nap! But if sharing my failures, my hopes, my dreams, and what I hope to do with the rest of my life (since I didn't do a lot with the first part). Well, if that moves just one other person in this world to care more, to change for the better, to love more deeply, to leave behind something more than just stuff, than I think it will be worth it. Of course, I may be dead and gone before that is proved out, and I am certain I will have many other failures in the meantime, but that is where faith comes in and that, I have no shortage of.

So Why Five Talents? Jesus Christ tells a parable in Matthew 25 called "the Parable of the Talents" in which He describes the Kingdom of Heaven. Here is how it is translated in a version from "The Message"

Matthew 25:14 -18"It's also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one, he gave five thousand dollars, to another, two thousand, to a third, one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master's investment. The second did the same. But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master's money.

19 -21"After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.'

22 -23"The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master's investment. His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.'

24 -25"The servant given one thousand said, 'Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.'

26 -27"The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.

28 -30"'Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.'

Okay. Now, in the original language the 1 thousand dollars is referred to as a Talent, which was a form of money in those days and that is how I always looked at this parable, about money. But, just the other day, I was listening to a fellow named Erwin McManus and he related this story not about money, but .... you guessed it - as about talents. As in creativity or music or teaching or whatever gifts you have been blessed with. That hit me like a ton of bricks. I have always been an underachiever. My teachers in school saw that. I think my Mom saw it and when I have been honest with myself and looked deeply into the mirror, I saw it as well.

That last verse:

"Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness."

That was ME! I guess when I hit 50 years old and it occurred to me I might only have 10 to 20 good years left (my father died after years of poor health at age 70), I realized I was that "one talent" guy. God had given me many gifts and I have used them only for my pleasure, my comfort. I buried the rest in the ground!

Last year, after years of traveling the world when I was young, just for fun, I finally went for another purpose. Oh, I had many opportunities before to go to impoverished parts of the world, but I guess it didn't sound very comfortable to me. I mean sleeping and hanging with poor people didn't seem as interesting as talking to people I could relate to or seeing beautiful sights. London, 6,000 miles away, is way cooler than the slums of Tijuana, Mexico, which of course is only 90 miles from where I live. I was always able to ignore all that. I was busy in my church, serving on various committees and for a while now, even serving as the Lay Leader of the congregation. But, something was missing. Something kept tugging at me and finally when I was asked by someone I barely knew, Bud Potter, from an organization called Go and Do Likewise, asked if I would go to Africa, and make a video about an impoverished village, that was known as "A Village Despised," and somehow help them. Well, I just couldn't shut the voice up inside of me that said GO.

Here is the video I made (That's Bud in the beginning) Let me know what you think:

Now if you think I am saying we all need to go to Africa, you're wrong. That's not my point, though I am using it to make my point, but enough for now. Chew on that, I'll have more in my next post.

Eaar (pronounced Ecar)