This is the Lord’s day. I truly rejoice. We started our Sunday on Saturday afternoon, as we often do. What a lovely, lovely Mass. The Gospel reading was Matthew 25: 14-30. The gist? It was the Gospel about the man who gave the talents to 3 of his servants. The first two turned those talents into even more. The third servant (our of either fear, laziness, or resentment at being shortchanged in the talent department) buried it in the back yard. The first two servants were rewarded upon the master’s return. The third? Banished and punished. it gives one pause. God is not arbitrary. He gave each of us gifts and talents for a reason. They are His gift to us. Our gift to Him must be to do something wonderful with them.
One of the hallmarks of my generation has been the desire to ‘make the world a better place’. Sometimes we succeed and sometimes we make it worse. Jesus often cautions us against hiding our lights under bushel baskets. Our gifts and talents used properly can light up the world, right?
Wanda Conway wrote “Sing out loud and clear! Within us is a unique heart-song placed there by God. Our vocation is to respond to this gift by singing the song and leaving a voiceprint for others to hear. We might not be the first violin or the loudest trumpet, but without that one note from a simple triangle a symphony is incomplete”.
That of course reminds me ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. We have no idea of which lives we touch or how. But we do touch them. Hopefully for the better. Hopefully we can hear God’s heart-song, too….The concept of leaving a voiceprint for others to hear truly fascinates me. I am accustomed to thinking of footprints and fingerprints. But a voiceprint left for others to hear—makes me wonder what it would sound like? Can i lead by following God? Can I offer my heart each day by hearing God’s heart-song and enveloping myself in it?
How is the best way to stay tuned in enough to hear each person’s heart-song and also sing our song? I do not have the perfect answer to that. But if you can tell yourself that there IS a heart song and you MUST find it—maybe you will be able to hear it! That is my theory for the morning anyway. OK that of course makes me think of 2 actual songs….i may not have the titles correct, but here goes…
1) Song Sung Blue (Neil Diamond)– and 2) Sing, Sing a Song by the Carpenters….As I recall, they both are about singing your song. I choose to believe that they are speaking/singing metaphorically. Right now I cannot remember all the lyrics but maybe you can.
My plan for today is to find my heart-song. I will find it and sing it; I won’t worry if it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear (as the Carpenters said)….but I will sing with joy and enthusiasm [literally and figuratively]. Everyone could use a little joy and enthusiasm these days. Of THAT I am more than certain. I hope your day is a glad and rejoicing kind of day! Here is the porch swing at my parents’ home. I love a good porch swing. Look at that—the Christmas lights are all piled up. Just waiting to be placed on all the lovely shrubs and around the porch posts. But before then? Time to sit a spell and swing. Happy Sunday, everyone….happy, happy Sunday.
Believe Anyway 
I am so behind on reading your beautiful song.
Eventually I will catch up.
I remember when I first found you, you were catching up.
and i still haven’t finished reading your wonderful articles that you sent me. Plus—i can’t figure out how to put the like button on my home pages so folks can like my post. i don’t know how i put it there in the first place and i don’t know what i just did to make it go away!!! Wait a minute—i either fixed it or there was nothing wrong in the first place….never mind 🙂
Beautiful post. Happy Sunday!
Right back atcha Gracie and thank you 🙂
Loved this post. I hope you had a very happy Sunday. I made it to the 7.30 am Mass on Sunday. Same Gospel reading you were refering to. The previous two Sundays I didn’t make it: One weekend I was struggling with a cold. Another weekend we had been going to Sydney for three days in a row. It was just getting a bit too much for me. I don’t like it when I can’t make time for Mass. But God knows I love the Mass and I’m sure he understands why sometimes I can’t make it. I am not so sure that I use my talents wisely. I had planned on going for a swim this morning, instead I still sit here in front of the computer. Is this good or bad? I am often a procrastinator!
I read about you and your hubby swimming regularly. How wonderful it is to get to do that when you can. Isn’t it wonderful that we are continents apart and hearing the same reading. I believe you do use your talents wisely—–look at how you guide and influence and reassure your readers and the writers you read. You have such a gift for kindness and insight. Your day was well spent, i am thinking!
Thank you, Kate, for your very kind words. What a confidence booster! When I became a Catholic I thought it might help me in becoming a bit more disciplined. But I think basically I tend to be a bit of a procrastinator. I mean I don’t want to be busy, busy, busy all the time. Everyone should have sufficent relaxing time, right? So there are times to be busy and there are times to relax a bit more. The best seems to me when we can enjoy one after another in good health! By the way hubby doesn’t swim regularly. He hates cold water! So it’s up to me to schedule time for my very relaxing swimming..
My hubby hates cold water, too. That’s a funny coincidence. I tend to be a bit of a procrastinator, too! It comes and goes. Hang in there 🙂
Kate–another great post. Keep singing! There’s an old Gospel hymn “I Love to Tell the Story” the second or third verse is about how those who know the story love to hear it over and over. How true! How wonderful and awe inspiring it is to know that we are all blended into the symphony of creation by the Creator-Conductor of us all!
I love that song—especially if it is followed by a rousing rendition of How Great Thou Art!!
Will do. Thanks, Kate!
you’re welcome!