A number of years ago, I was leading an event on spiritual gifts. People were seated in tables of four. At one table in this room was a group of women from the same church from a small town. They had known each other for many years. I asked each person in the room to share a talent that they had, a talent that not everyone would know about. At that table where the four small town women sat, one of the women said that she had won several awards for poetry. The friends at her table were shocked. They had no idea she was gifted. I could hear them say to the woman, "I never knew. You should have told us. Why are we just hearing about this now?" This woman had not shared her gifts.
I am one of 7 and a half billion people in this world. I have my own unique talents and gifts. I have my own short comings and foibles. There are things that I do well. I like to sing. I like to take photography. But I have no doubt that there are millions of people who do these things better than I do. I am hopeless at auto mechanics and I am sure (though I have never tried) that I have very few gifts that would make me a neuroscientist. I am ok with these short comings.
So I may not be the #1 anything in the world. I am fine of that. For I don't feel a burning need to be the best or the worst. However, I truly believe that even though I am just one of many, I do have a unique something that I give to the world. Just like me DNA, no one has the same gifts and talents, faults and foibles to share with the world in the same portions as I do. No one has my experiences and my memories. No one else has completely my perspective. Yes I am one of billions, but I am a different one from every other.
The Irish writer, Oscar Wilde, said, "Be yourself. Everyone else is taken." So even though we feel our voice does not matter, even though we feel we might remain unheard in the midst of a billion other voices, the world needs you. The woman at the church gathering realised she needed to share her gift of poetry with others. The world needs your gifts. Please share. Blessings.
