Thoughtful Thursday

America’s Got Talent

Remodeling is not for the faint of heart! We’ve been purging decades of “stuff” to upgrade our upstairs space. Somewhere in the recesses of storage spaces, my husband, Ed, found my Freshman high school yearbook. It was old and worn, and a bit dirty from decades, (yes…decades), of gathering dust and grime, and who knows what else it came in contact with over the years. I ran my fingers over the book cover. The background was white. A maroon triangle protruded from the left side of the binding, coming to a point about halfway across the front. Embossed on the triangle was a gold colored seal with four symbols inside the circle. Each represented an aspect of our education. A torch, a molecule, a book, and the scale of justice rounded out the display. Near the bottom of the white background, in bold maroon letters, was the word, BOBCAT. Ah, yes.. the maroon and white Bobcats. When the new school was built, the school colors were changed to blue and white. This yearbook was a reminder that I belonged to an elite group of students who paved the way, and became a part of Bobcat history. For a moment, my mind wandered back to fourteen year old me…I was just a baby,  with no idea of what lay ahead for me.

Back in the day, everyone would ask people to sign their yearbook. I took some time to sit and read what people wrote to me. Their cursive handwriting scrawled things like, “To Mary, best of luck in the future.” Or, “To Mary, a very nice girl that I’ve enjoyed having class with.” Evidently, they thought that I was, “sweet, nice, and funny.”  I sat and read each one, remembering the person who wrote it, picturing them as they looked back then. I was feeling pretty good about myself, until one girl wrote, “To a very sweet and dumb girl…” What???  I decided that “dumb” also meant “funny.” Okay…I was good with that.

As I began to read each note, I would pause and say, “They used to work at the  hospital,“ or, “They worked at the bank,” or, “They became a teacher.” Sometimes, I would say, “ I don’t know what happened to them. They moved away after high school.” A few of them  joined the service. Each note brought a special memory, like tiny drops in the bucket of my life.

Sadly, I began to say things like, “He died about a year ago…She passed away last year…they went to jail…I think they died…”

For some reason, this reminded me of the parable of the talents, as told in the Bible.

Matthew 25:14-21 tells us:
For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.

And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability, and immediately he went on a journey.

Then he who had received the five talents, went and traded with them, and made another five talents.

And likewise, he who had received two, gained two more also.

But he who had received one, went and dug in the ground and hid his lord’s money.

After a long time, the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

So, he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, “Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.”

His lord, said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”

More and more, I’m reminded of how precious life is! I’m thankful to wake up each and every day! I have been given many, “talents,” (opportunities ), throughout the years. I hope that I have used them wisely. All I can hope for is that one day, if I asked God to sign my yearbook, I hope that He would write, “ To Mary: Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”

HAVE A GREAT THURSDAY!