Everyone has a hidden talent that they only display under the right circumstances. Ed, my old neighbour in Saskatchewan, is very talented when he is playing his guitar. It is a good talent that he tends only to display when the time is right for him. When asked if he has any hidden talents, Ed would rather talk about the talents he does not have. Ed likes to claim that he has no talent for any activity in the kitchen or the garden what so ever! Not now! Not ever!
I do not know whether I should believe Ed when he mentions a cousin who will wiggle his ears, raise one eyebrow, stand on his head and touch his nose with his tongue if there is a pretty girl around to see him. Ed claims all the special hidden talents of his cousin stay hidden unless there is a beautiful girl to motivate him. Ed has one regret in that try as he might he cannot find within himself the hidden talent to make vast amounts of money. Ed would really like to find hidden within him the ability to make money hand over fist.
It would seem to me that Ed would need another talent to go with making lots of money. He might want the ability to accumulate all the money he makes or hang on to his money. When we make more money, we may spend more money and be no further ahead. It does seem some folks do have a talent for making money, that is lots and lots of it.
One such individual was Andrew Carnegie born in Scotland in 1835. His family moved to America where Andrew became an extremely wealthy industrialist and business magnate in the expansion of the American Steel Industry. In his lifetime his peers called him the wealthiest man in the world. He was also called the greatest philanthropist of his day. Carnegie was concerned about the welfare of others and was willing to give generous sums of money for good causes.
It is reported that Carnegie said that the man who dies rich dies disgraced. It is true that Carnegie funded the establishment of two thousand five hundred public libraries and had given away approximately 350 million dollars for the welfare of others by the time of his death.
It is easy to respect the name Andrew Carnegie for his generosity in giving his money to help others. Carnegie unselfishly gave his wealth so others might access to libraries that they would not have had without his help. It was a time when learning and pleasure came from reading books.
Christians celebrate Jesus Christ, who gave his life unselfishly to help others receive forgiveness from God that they cannot achieve on their own. We believe that God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son to into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Jesus true God and true man gave his precious blood and his innocent body for us on the cross. Faith in Jesus gives us access to both God’s forgiveness now and heaven to come.
