Daily Kos: what are our responsibilities to our talents?:
what are our responsibilities to our talents?
In the 8 summers I spent at what was then called National Music Camp in Interlochen, MI, known then as "the home of America's gifte youth" (and trust me, we could take the Mickey Mouse Club song and have fun with gifted youth)(, atone of he Sunday Morning non-denominational services, we would have a reading from Matthew of the Parable of the Talents. Yes, many of us understood that a talent was an ancient measure of money, but the clear intention to have us think of our gifts, the English synonym of talent actually derived from this parable. We were not to be like the unfaithful servant and fail to develop those talents.
I suppose that I am far from alone in having experienced someone telling me of something I could do, "Boy, if I had your talent I would ..." or "why with your gifts aren' you using them to make more money?" In the profession for which the latter part of my life has been defined, for all the respect we so often have ostensibly proffered in our direction, we are also reminded of the old saw that "those who can, do; those who can't, teach."
It is interesting that in many of these exchanges the underlying sentiment is often clearly that a talent is only of value insofar as it has a pecuniary value. In that sense, one might say our approach to talents returns to the original meaning of the word in the famous parable.
But even if we remove the crass monetary evaluation, there is still a question of the responsibility we have to the talents an gifts we may have. It is a reflection upon that concern which is the subject of this Saturday Morning reflection.
I suppose that I am far from alone in having experienced someone telling me of something I could do, "Boy, if I had your talent I would ..." or "why with your gifts aren' you using them to make more money?" In the profession for which the latter part of my life has been defined, for all the respect we so often have ostensibly proffered in our direction, we are also reminded of the old saw that "those who can, do; those who can't, teach."
It is interesting that in many of these exchanges the underlying sentiment is often clearly that a talent is only of value insofar as it has a pecuniary value. In that sense, one might say our approach to talents returns to the original meaning of the word in the famous parable.
But even if we remove the crass monetary evaluation, there is still a question of the responsibility we have to the talents an gifts we may have. It is a reflection upon that concern which is the subject of this Saturday Morning reflection.
Ten years after the invasion, did we win the Iraq war?
In this piece Andrew J. Bacevich answers that question with a rather strong negative.
It is thoughtful, biting, even brilliant piece, which begins
Second, if we want a parallel for what the surge did or did not accomplish we might consider the Battle of New Orleans.
Along the way he describes the Korean War as perhaps America's most successful conflict, once Truman gave
It is thoughtful, biting, even brilliant piece, which begins
Judgments rendered by history tend to be tentative, incomplete and reversible. More than occasionally, they arrive seasoned with irony. This is especially true when it comes to war, where battlefield outcomes thought to be conclusive often prove anything but.There are two key thrusts to Bacevich's argument.First, we wound up in Iraq as a direct result of World War I.
Second, if we want a parallel for what the surge did or did not accomplish we might consider the Battle of New Orleans.
Along the way he describes the Korean War as perhaps America's most successful conflict, once Truman gave