"We can't take any credit for our talents.
It's how we use them that counts."
Okay, first of all let me say
that I now have a reading buddy,
and the first book he gave me was
A Wrinkle in Time...
and it was fabulous.
He gave me the next one,
and I've been reading it to Jacob to get him to take naps.
I start reading and 10 minutes later he's out like a light.
Madeleine's quote about talents
makes me think about the parable of the talents.
Now I know that Jesus was talking about money,
but we can liken scripture to our lives in many ways.
But even when talking about money,
the word talent is also used to describe something of great worth.
And our talents are of great worth.
Start Quote
Don't worry that your talent won't be adequate to the task.
Spirit always chooses us as servants of work
perfectly suited to our personal gifts,
even if we beg to differ.
A low opinion of our abilities is a handy cop-out
when facing creative challenges...
Agreeing to serve really means just showing up...
Art is a Divine Collaboration,
a sacred covenant between
the artist and the Great Creator.
Inspired artists,
the ones who write the books you can't put down,
pen the poems you must memorize,
paint the pictures you can't walk away from,
and compose the music you must listen to over and over again,
are the first ones to admit it.
Giacomo Puccini, confessed that his opera, Madame Butterfly,
"was dictated to me by God; I was merely instrumental
in putting it on paper and communicating it to the public."
Harriet Beecher Stowe swore that it was
"Another Hand" writing through her at the kitchen table
- in between caring for six children, cooking, and sewing -
because she never knew what was going to come next
George Frederick Handel believed he was hallucinating
for twenty frenzied days as he composed The Messiah:
"I did think I did see all Heaven before me,
and the great God Himself."
Painters from Piet Mondrian
have viewed their role as channels.
Motherwell knew that to let the brush take over
was the surest way to render the vision on canvas:
"It will stumble on what one couldn't do by oneself."
And once you begin to nurture Divinity's dream
- with your creativity, craft, courage,
discipline, devotion, discernment,
energy, enthusiasm, emotion,
intelligence, imagination, inventiveness,
passion, perseverance, patience,
skill, sweat, savvy,
tenacity, tears, and tantrums -
you will grow into your talent.
What's more, you'll be astonished at what
the Great Artistic Alliance accomplishes.
End Quote
Well, what are you waiting for?
Start collaborating.
***
Gratitude Journal
***
1) Sarah. I love this book, obviously...partly because she's done all this research so I don't have to. I'm grateful she decided to write this book.
2) A very productive Saturday.
3) Watching the kids play, they are so funny, like watching three little minions running around.
4) My friend brought me flowers from her garden. I love flowers, and I love her.
5) Robbie and his dad put tint on some of the windows today...and oh my goodness it's so cool. I am so excited to have them all done! The house will be a little cooler, the sun won't reflect off of them and ruin the syn lawn, and then we can replace the stuff that burnt to a crisp. Also, we moved the roses to the backyard. I just have to face it, roses are not meant for the front of my house. One is still alive, but I hope I can bring the other one back from what looks like death. It's hard to see and to accept that I probably killed them...but you live and you learn. I think they would forgive me, they know that I tried my best. And maybe next year we can invest in some drought tolerant and full sun heat loving native flowering plants to take their place.
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