“. . . you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.” . . . “Well done, good and faithful servant.” – Matthew 25:20,21
Until I read Julia Cameron’s classic book, The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, my long-held belief had been that creativity was limited to those we often think of as “artists” – painters, sculptors, writers, musicians and the like. It never occurred to me that in some unique way we are all creative. But as Julia Cameron explains, if we are in fact created in the image of the Creator then it stands to reason that we too are creators.
In the “Parable of the Talents” Jesus tells of a wealthy man who went away on a journey. In his absence he entrusted his financial assets (talents) with three managers. To one he entrusted five “talents”, to another two, and to the third one. After his return he called upon his managers for an accounting. The manager who had been entrusted with five talents as well as the manager with two had each doubled his money during his absence for which the wealthy master was extremely pleased. But the third man had not bothered to invest the money at all with which he’d been entrusted, but instead had hidden it away, infuriating the wealthy man. “You wicked, lazy servant!” he yelled.
I’ve often wondered why the master was so angry; after all he got his money back which seems better than losing it, right? Disappointed perhaps, but furious? Then several years ago I began to study Julia Cameron’s works and that’s when the parable started to make sense to me; that is, we too have been entrusted with certain gifts, talents or resources with which we can either choose to invest in the good work of God’s Kingdom, or choose to do nothing; or worse, to misuse it. Either way would be to squander what we had been given, and it was the squandering that infuriated the master.
Who says creativity was given to only a select few, those we refer to as artists? The fact is, God has given each of us some special unique creative abilities, and like the “Parable of the Talents,” entrusted us to invest wisely. As Julia Cameron says, “The Great Creator has gifted us with creativity. Our gift back is our use of it.” Someone once speculated that there will only be one question to answer on judgment day and that is, “What did you do with what I gave you?” Does that not summarize the lesson of the Parable?