The Parable of the Talents, unknown provenance.
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His master said to him, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.’ Matthew 25:21.
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The parable of the talents is one of the most famous Jesus ever created, but there may be one thing you did not know about the word “talent”. Originally it did not mean a special ability in which one excelled. Originally it came from the Greek word τάλαντον, talanton. It was a unit of weight, not ability. The actual weight varied according to the country in which you found it. It could vary between 8.4 grams (0.30 oz.) or higher. In Jesus’ time and area it was up to 75lbs. In other words, very heavy, and it traditionally measured silver or gold… Today, 75lbs of gold is valued at about $4 million dollars. Consequently the servant entrusted with 5 talents was entrusted with the equivalent of $20 million dollars! Jesus must have been making a point simply on the amount of money the master was entrusting to his servants. Those talents were worth a great deal of money! Even the fellow who went and buried his talent had been entrusted with $4 million! And many scholars believe that the parable was about more than simply the ability to make money. I think there is a case to be made for the talents representing the life of each of the servants. That would also explain the conversion of the meaning of the word talent to one of ability. What we do with these talents will determine if we hear those rewarding, exciting words from the parable: “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.” In other words, enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
I recall a moment from my time as a headmaster in a Catholic school in Washington DC in the 1980s. I offered an elective course in Geography, a subject I used to teach to A level in England, AP in the USA, (almost unknown in the USA in high school – and it shows!). With a little experience, any teacher will quickly get to know which of their students are the brightest, and which are not; seen especially in the questions they ask. One of my students was particularly bright, and he came from a family which included nuclear physicists! But he was totally lazy. I seem to recall that he did not graduate as he had failed several subjects, including mine. I last saw him pumping gas in a gas station in the city (petrol station for you Brits), a total waste of his talents. I think today’s parable was told as an inspiration to such as he. God has gifted all of us with talents, some more, some less. But the point is we all are talented in one way or other. The whole point of education is to identify those talents and develop them, that’s why teaching is a sacred ministry, co-operating with God in the good formation of the young. Well my student was a young man who had buried his talents and seemed to be doing nothing about it. I hope and pray he came to his senses, just like the prodigal son in another of Jesus’ parables.
An example of talent discovery I showed to my students was the story of Alison Gertz. She was a young girl from a wealthy New York family. She was of an age when she could begin to decide for herself, but made one devastating mistake in having a sexual relationship with a man who had AIDS. This was when AIDS in the early 1980s was just becoming a threat, and no-one knew how to deal with it. Alison contracted it, and descended into the depths of anger and depression, furious with everyone, including herself and her family. Totally understandable but very destructive. But she attended a retreat for people with terrible illnesses, and discovered there that she had a voice, a story to tell, and a compassionate nature to help others. Her whole life shifted from self-misery and darkest depression to one of a missionary with a message. In other words, she discovered a talent even within the depths of despair, which changed her life completely. Within the short time left to her, she died in 1992 aged 26, she went public with her condition, in the hope that those who heard it would be spared her own agony, especially as at that time girls thought they were immune to it (I was teaching in a girls’ school then). An article appeared in the New York Times about her, and from then on she visited schools, especially, alerting students to the very real danger they may encounter at certain times and places. An excellent movie about her called Something to Live For: The Alison Gertz Story was presented on ABC television in 1992. Only the Lord knows how many were spared the disease because of her life-saving activity.
Talent comes in many disguises, as we have just seen. We are all gifted in one way or another. The challenge is to discover what that field (or fields) is and develop it with gusto and dedication. It – they – are God’s very valuable gifts to us, meant to be used for the good of others, and ourselves, in that order. Indeed, they are the way, unique to each of us, to the gateway of heaven! And a final note is pretty important: Our talents are not really ours: They are gifts from God, as the parable states, but meant to be developed so that we can all help others and eventually hear those sacred words: Come, share your master’s joy!
Life, Uncomplicated, September 15, Tamara Pflug.
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