Talent/No Talent
O give thanks to God, for God is good. God’s above-and-beyond love endures forever. Out of my distress I called on God: They answered me and set me in a broad place. With God on my side, I do not fear. – Psalm 118:1, 5-6 (NRSV, adapted)
You haven’t lived until you’ve been at an all-church retreat in the California redwoods with people ages 4 months through 77 years. With a cup of hot tea perched in your lap, as evening draws nigh, you are sitting in the second row to watch the Talent/No Talent Show.
The debut act is a five-year-old dancing the Macarena. The song goes on for a very long time, but nobody minds. She is followed by a fourteen-year-old with intense anxiety working a new composition on alto sax, entitled “Algebra Class.” It’s not finished yet, but you would have thought it was a Bach cantata based on the audience’s awe. After dinner, she informs us the updated title is “Nighttime Café.”
Two sisters—one of whom is about to leave for college, the other left behind to keep figuring out high school—warm up the partner juggling skills they acquired 10 years ago. The applause is astounding. Young twins finish off the show with their aptly titled act, “Running Around and Expressing Joy with Rainbow Silks.” They earn a standing O.
For that sweet hour, we are the face of God shining on them. Because of this moment, they can believe they are loved, profoundly; approved, absolutely—not for what they can do, but simply because they are. They have demonstrated great bravery and faith in ascending that stage, letting God “set them in a broad place,” as a step toward the greater and greatest things God has in store for them.
Prayer
God, talented or not, you love us beyond imagining. May we have the faith of a child to believe it.
About the AuthorRev. Molly Baskette is the lead pastor of First Church Berkeley UCC and the author of books about church renewal, parenting, spiritual growth and more. Sign up for her author newsletter or get information about her newest book at mollybaskette.com.