the parable of the talents / blaming God and the world / zenith and detachment

God has entrusted me with myself. ~Epictetus

so it goes that God is glorified when man is fully alive.
and to be fully alive involves being responsible for thoughts, actions and ultimately who and what the self is.
this week's reading - the parable of the talents - always brings to mind the fact that we are all richly blessed in talents to which we owe God a duty to develop and to give Him the fruits of our efforts.

***

blaming God and the world is a manifestation of pride, the subtle sin that brought man's original sin into the world.

it makes so much of a difference looking at life in terms of choices and responsibility. i cannot be perfect, i cannot be flawless, but i can choose to believe and have faith, to do my very best without snapping or giving up. and taken this way, every single action is a choice. every single omission is a choice.

when you hit rock bottom, and you're crying out in anger, outraged at a God who allowed this to happen, you're drowning in sorrows and pain too much for you to handle, you stop and look around and find that He was there all along, willing for you to hold His hand and get up again.

i can't throw my cross away, it is after all, my very own, but holding His hand and looking fate in the eye with a trust that all will work out in the end, i take up the journey again.

***

the zenith of life is discovering God in all things and all people.
and in so doing, detaching myself from fruitless expectations.

there will be people whom i wish i'd never met in life:- bullies, egomaniacs who think they always know best, cowards and spineless fools, the catty and the mean women and girls. i have met them all and will continue to encounter them.

i think i hear you say - who gave you the right to judge them?

judging does not mean not using my discernment - the truth is there are indeed such people and that they are not just their terrible behaviour.
the detachment comes from not condemning them, recognising my own sinfulness and weakness. and i think it's a sign of a slowly emerging maturity - i refuse to make excuses for such people's behaviour and i refuse to stand for this kind of treatment.

spirituality is no mush, no mealy mouthed platitudes, it's hard work - it's balancing razor edge, walking the straight and the narrow.
if Jesus did not just stand by and just watch the Jews tear apart Jerusalem, then i can expect no less with myself and my life work.