I picked up the e-book copy of Elder David A. Bednar’s book “Increase in Learning”, and started into it. It’s got me thinking a lot about learning (connecting a little with the lists and reading thing I talked about yesterday), and I want to explore that for a moment.
WARNING: This post will feature some pretty on-point discussion of LDS scripture and doctrine. If that’s not your bag, come back tomorrow. I may be back to discussing anime, or writing, or something else.
Still here? Okay.
I’ve always used the King James Version, so that’s the language I’ll be using any time I mention a Bible verse. But as a standard practice, if I’m mentioning something in the Book of Mormon or Doctrine and Covenants, I’ll put a link up to the text at scriptures.lds.org. And of course, this is just my view, and not to be taken as official LDS doctrine.
Let’s start with the parable of the talents, found in Matthew 25. We all pretty much know the story – a man has three servants. Before leaving on a long journey, he gives each of them talents – a measurement of weight – of silver. To one, he gives five talents, to the next, he gives two, and to the last one he gives one talent. And the KJV seems to say that he is giving these to them based on their individual capacities – “to every man according to his several ability…” And then the man leaves on his journey.
Two of the servants – the one with five talents, and the one with two talents, “went and traded with the same”. The one with a single talent “went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money”. Time passes.
The lord returns, and demands an accounting from his servants. The two who had gone and traded with the talents had doubled their money, and their master was pleased. The third, who had buried the talent, returned his lord’s money, and the lord cast him out as an unprofitable servant.
I’ve always thought of this as being a pretty straightforward message that people should develop their talents. Today, I’m modifying that slightly. It’s not enough to develop a talent. It has to be put to productive use. I can sit around the house all the time practicing piano, and get really good at it. But if I never play for anyone else, have I put it to productive use? Maybe there’s some virtue to developing a certain discipline or appreciation for music, but is it doing anyone else any good?
Let’s fold in another, earlier statement made by Christ – Matthew 5:14-16 – where Christ tells his disciples that they are the light of the world, and talks about candlesticks and bushels. Everyone has some kind of talent. Everyone has at least the capacity for some kind of light. Therefore, each and every one of us, individually, has a responsibility to shine out. To put ourselves and our abilities to productive use, and to do so for the benefit of other people.
Now, here’s an interesting question. What if I’m sharing a talent, putting it to productive use, for money? What if, say, I’m writing as well as I can and getting paid filthy, filthy lucre for it? NOW what?
Well, we go back to the original parable. The profitable servants were trading in the marketplace. That’s where the exchanges took place. Those who participated in the marketplace with their talents were rewarded for it by the master. Doesn’t sound like condemnation, does it? In fact, it was the guy who refused to participate in the marketplace that was cast out as unprofitable.
Yes, it’s a parable. I may be reading too much into it. But… I’m kind of turning this over and over in my head, and trying to find a hole in the reasoning.
Oh, yes. The motivation, of course. The love of money is the root of all evil, et cetera. But human beings are complex things. We can do things for more than one reason. One reason may be to support a family, which in today’s world means earning a living by the sweat of our brow – and that can be skull-sweat in the form of writing or coding or law or a number of things. One reason may be for the appreciation and enjoyment of seeing a piece of music or fiction or architecture or a crop come in. They aren’t mutually exclusive. One reason may be because we really really want a MacBook Air, or a new car, or a house. That gets thrown in the mix. One reason may be that we feel a responsibility to share our talents because we don’t want to be thought unprofitable.
But it raises the question – am I using my time correctly? Am I using it productively? Profitably?
I’m still thinking it over. But… if I’m reading this right, I’ve got a responsibility to develop and share my talents with others, and using them in the marketplace… counts.