Saturday, November 10

Talent - A different twist to a Bible Parable

Before I start the parable, for your information.., 'talent' is an ancient unit of currency.

Now the parable...

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A just man, about to go on a journey, called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey.

Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents.

In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more.

But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

Now after a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.

The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, "Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents."

His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful slave You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master."

Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, "Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents."

His master said to him, "Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master."

And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, "Master, I thought you are a hard man. I was afraid to put the talent in the market and risk losing it. So I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours."

His master answered and said to him, "You lazy slave, you knew that I'm a hard man. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents."

At that, the slave pleaded him for another chance. The kind hearted master gave him a deep look... and then decided to give him another chance.

The slave took the single talent and walked away...

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What do you think? Will the slave make best use of the new-found opportunity? Was the master right in giving the slave a second chance? If the master is God, and you the slave, will you make best use of the new-found opportunity and enhance your 'talents' and abilities?

You can access the original parable from here

7 comments:

tiktiklife said...

yes this is a possibility. We could imagine for a second chance after some successful models. But in life this seems to be difficult. It is more important that we correct our orientations rather than correcting our actions and trying to repeat the options.

Roopa said...

Wonderful story - I appreciate Fr Vincents comment even more.

padhick said...

Thanks Roopa. Yes... Fr Vincent bubbled up the reality beautifully... :)

Futuristics said...

NICE Blog :)

Anonymous said...

Hello-
Just stumbled on this entry. I do believe God often gives us second (third, fourth, etc.) chances. However we want to remember that this parable was originally spoken by Jesus to describe the kingdom of heaven as Jesus' return. Jesus' point is that at that time, there will be no chances. This parable is part of a series that instructed his followers to be ready.

padhick said...

Anonymous, Thanks for sharing the perspective.

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