A Talent for Growing
A Talent for Growing 
Spiritual growth is the movement from an ego-centric view of the world and "what's in it for me" to an open and loving acceptance of one's self and others as children of God; created by a loving Father to learn and grow in understanding and compassion and to become good stewards of the natural world. When we develop healthy, creative interdependent relationships and begin consciously living in the now, we discover a deep and abiding joy welling up from within us.
Happiness has been defined as an emotional response to a positive event, such as getting a raise or receiving an unexpected gift--a temporary event dependent upon external events. Joy is often defined as the product of happiness, but true joy comes from deep within one's own being and is not bound or limited by people, places or events. And therein lies its power.
I can still experience true joy, even when the world around me appears to be spinning out of control. Instead of trying to fix everything and everyone, I turn my attention to the inward journey of spiritual growth. My personal growth has a ripple effect in my world.
When my inner life is lively and well nurtured my relationships improve dramatically.
We need to learn how to value and care for ourselves, to enrich our "centers" in order to make them safe, strong, renewing places to be. We need to relate to other people and to the world out of this center, out of inner wholeness.
Jesus used parables, earthly stories with a heavenly meaning, to teach the multitudes and His disciples. The Parable of the Talents appears with slightly different details in both Matthew and Luke. It is set in conjunction with other stories teaching that we know not when He (the Master) shall return and must be ever ready. In Matthew, the Master gives His servants 1, 2 or 5 talents, each according to his ability, to be invested during the Master's absence. Both the servants with 2 talents and 5 talents invested wisely and doubled the Master's return. But the servant with 1 talent hid his for safekeeping rather than risking loss.
Those who invested (used) their talents and multiplied their good were blessed and rewarded by the Master, but the one who hid his talent lost that which he had as punishment for not using it. And then, Jesus states what appears to be an inexplicably hard teaching:
For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.
If we develop the spiritual gifts (talents) which God has given us, then our lives will be blessed with the riches of the Kingdom of Heaven. But if we deny our spiritual gifts and hide away for fear of loosing that which we have been given, then even that which we have received will be lost in our fears and doubts. Job stated it best, I think: That which I have feared has come upon me.
I believe that the greatest reward of spiritually empowered wholeness in my life is the feeling of a deep and abiding sense of peace and joy. Oprah offered this definition:
Rev. Claudia Naylor
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