Blessed Thanksgiving Everyone!
A Thanksgiving Parable in an updated language:
Revised Telling of the Parable of the Talents/Properties
* It is estimated that one talent was equivalent to 20 years wages. Some have even estimated that one talent equates to 1 million dollars today. Whatever it may be we know that it was a substantial sum. I have made the sums significantly less, to make the telling more accessible.
There was an infinitely wealthy and wise woman whom everyone called the Mother. She wished to entrust her wealth and property to her daughters, and so calling them to her, she gave one five properties and $500,000; to another two properties and $200,000; and to the third, one property and$100,000, all as their capacity allowed. The daughter who received the five properties immediately gave a portion of her wealth away, and due to her ongoing generosity she received in return double the amount in properties and monetary wealth. The daughter who was given two properties received two more in the same way, along with double her given monies. But the daughter who received one property hid her property rights and buried her money and told no one. Now a long time afterward, the Mother returned to see how her daughters were and what had become of the wealth that had been distributed. The daughter who had originally received five properties came forth and acknowledged that all was given by the Mother, even with her own generous dealings contributing to the increase of wealth, and therefore she gave back to the Mother the original five properties plus five more, and the original $500,000 plus $500,000 more. The Mother spoke, “You have trusted in the goodness and eternal abundance, and as you can be trusted with small things, I now invite you to share in greater things - come and enter the Joy of your Mother.”
Next the daughter who had been given two properties and $200,000 came forth and delivered to the Mother the original two properties as well as the extra two, along with $400,000. She also acknowledged that all had been entrusted and given to her by the Mother, even though her own actions had created more wealth. Again the Mother spoke, “You have trusted in the goodness and eternal abundance, and as you can be trusted with small things, I now invite you to share in greater things - come and enter the Joy of your Mother.”
Then came the daughter with the one property and $100,000, and she spoke to the Mother saying, “I was afraid that I would lose this property and money or that someone would take it away from me and I would be left with nothing, so I told no one and I hid it away. The land is overgrown and does not produce anything and now I cannot find where I hid the money, but here is the property, I give it back.” The Mother looked upon her with great sorrow and saw her last daughter was bound not only in lack, but more so, lack of trust, and because of this the Mother could not invite her last daughter into the Joy that was her rightful heritage. The Mother’s sorrow was immense as the daughter had not trusted in the Mother’s abundance of wealth and wisdom and therefore could not know the Joy of her own nature. The Mother spoke to her, “May you journey deep into the loving trust of your Mother’s natural abundance and give what is mine back to me by giving to others. This is the well that never runs dry.”
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