The Parable of the Talents

This week I learned to be grateful for the things that Heavenly Father does not give me. In class we studied the parable of the talents.

Generally, the story goes as follows. There were three servants to a rich man. He gave each of these men an asset to care for while he was away on other business. He gave one five of these assets, one two, and the final servant received one. While the master was gone, the first two servants used their assets to create more, always planning on returning both the principal and the interest to the master. The third was paralyzed by fear of his responsibility, and decided to only hide his asset.

When the master returned, the three servants gave a report of their stewardship over these assets. The first had doubled his assets, now having ten talents instead of five. The second servant did likewise, now having four instead of two. The master was pleased with the dedication and planning of the first two servants, and rewarded them both with more than they had been previously entrusted. The third servant, however, brought forth only the asset that he had originally been given. The master asked him why he hadn’t done anything with the talent that he had been given. The servant told his master that he knew his master to be a tough and ambitious man, and had thought it best to only give his master the original principle safe, rather than to risk anything else. He was punished by having his asset taken away from him and given to the first servant.

So, there are a lot of things we can learn from this story. One that I liked is that we are limiting our application of the story if we only think of the talents as literal talents and abilities. While this is a really good application, I have learned a lot more by replacing “talent” with the word “asset”. This can include our educational opportunities, employment, and even our children! What a broader application!

Finally, there was one lesson that really hit me while my professor was teaching. We create our own God, sometimes regardless of who He truly is, and then we create a world that fits that god. For example, if you asked the first two servants about the characteristics of the master, they would say that he was very fair and generous, and that he had given them great opportunities. The third would probably say that the master was tough and mean and took things that didn’t belong to him. Each was rewarded by the “master” they had created in their minds, and were rewarded by that master. 

So shall it be at the last day. If we believe that God is whimsical, unknowable, or punishing, we may find ourselves in a life that seems to have little direction, with no anchor and much sorrow. If we believe in a God that knows us, is guiding everything in our lives, and wants us to be successful, we will feel greater peace and order in our lives as we try and trace things back to Him. These reactions are completely separated from what actually happens to us or who God really is, just like even though the master in the story was a person with an actual character, the servants could have completely different perceptions of him. Our reactions to our lives have everything to do with choosing to accept Him or not, and whether to accept the talents (assets) He gives us. Or not.