Editorial January 8, 1903 Issue

The One Talent

The man with the one talent, far from being only an imaginary personality performing his part in the setting of a parable, is one of the veritable foes of our own household. He invades the precincts of our domain through suggestion of self-depreciation, basing his arguments upon comparison with those whom we consider more free, whose environments are less restrictive, who have more money, more time, more strength to devote to God's service. Through self-justification he reverses, to our false sense, the impartial munificence of infinite Love, universal in its bestowal, and declares a partial and scanty allotment of ability, and would make us forget that God's gift to all is all, that it is always our demand, not God's supply, that is lacking.

Listening to this counsel of self-depreciation, self-justification, and false humility, we carefully hide away our one talent, bury it in the earth, until, through inactivity, even that which we have is taken away.

The teaching of the disastrous non-use of the one talent is impressive. No matter how brilliant the demonstration of our neighbor of the five talents, our work is neither helped nor hindered thereby. His beacon light, upon the hilltop, affords no excuse for us, if we keep not our fainter, lower light burning to lead the traveler safely through the shadows of the valley.

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