Putting Talents to Use

The Point of the Gospel

 

Parables con’t

The Ten Virgins {Matthew}

Jesus said, “The kingdom of God will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet a bridegroom. Five were foolish and brought no oil for their lamps. The wise virgins carried extra oil in jars. They all became tired at the long wait for the bridegroom and fell asleep. At midnight, a cry arose that the bridegroom had come. The virgins woke and trimmed the wicks of their lamps. The foolish virgins asked the others to give them some oil as theirs was running out. Thinking there might not be sufficient for everyone, the wise ones urged the others to go buy more. The bridegroom arrived while they were still away. The virgins who were prepared went in to the wedding banquet with the bridegroom, and the door was shut.

“Later, the others returned and asked to be let in, but the bridegroom said, ‘I don’t know you.’ You cannot know the time of the bridegroom’s arrival, so keep watch.”

The Talents {Matthew} The Ten Minas {Luke}

{Luke} Jesus told a parable about the kingdom of God because, approaching Jerusalem, the people expected it to appear at once.

{Matthew} “Again,” Jesus said, “the kingdom of God will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and gave them property to take care of. To one he gave five talents (about one thousand dollars), to another he gave two, and to another, one, depending on their abilities. The man with five put his money to work and gained five more. The one with two gained two more. But the man with one hid his in a hole in the ground.”

{Luke} “A man of noble birth going on a long journey to be appointed king, called ten servants before him and gave each ten minas (about three months wages). He ordered them to put the minas to work until his return. His subjects hated him and sent a delegation to say they didn’t want him as king. Made king despite their objections, he returned and called the ten servants to ask what they had made from the money given to them.

“The first earned ten more and the king said, ‘Well done. Because you are trustworthy on small matters, take charge of ten cities.’ A second servant earned five minas and was given five cities.

“A third said, ‘I folded away your money in a cloth, afraid because you are a hard man.’”

{Matthew} “After a long time, the master returned and settled accounts with his servants. The man with five talents brought them and the five more earned. His master said, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I shall place you in charge of many. Come and share your master’s happiness.’

“The man with two talents came with those given to him and the two gained. The master praised and rewarded him in the same manner. Then the servant who had buried his talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew you harvest where you haven’t sown and gather where you haven’t scattered seed, a hard man. I was afraid and hid your money. Here is what belongs to you.’”

{Matthew and Luke} “The master (king) replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant. You should have put my money on deposit with the bankers so I would at least have gotten the interest. Take the money from him and give it to the one who has ten (twenty). For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. Throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness where there will be weeping and the gritting of teeth.’”

{Luke} “‘Those enemies who objected to me becoming king—bring them and kill them in front of me.’”

Personal Thought: Jesus didn’t come to wage war but a lot of his stories used violent metaphors.

Treating Heroin Addiction

Treating Heroin Addiction

Heroin, opioid, addiction is a complicated health condition that affects a person physically and socially and requires long-term treatment and care. Many turn to opioids for self-medicating pain and/or emotional, mental health issues. A multi-pronged approach is necessary for effective treatment. Most who try one area only such as detoxification return to their previous habits. Long-term treatment requires substitution therapy and some abstinence treatment, such as a twelve-step program, with the goal of improving physical health and the ability to function socially—work, education, and non-criminal behavior. Obviously, taking the drug itself, buying it, is illegal.

Substitution Therapy

Previously, methadone was the drug treatment of choice. Now buprenorphine is safer. Its effectiveness is identical but hasn’t the side effect of overdose deaths found with methadone. Any replacement therapy is geared toward reducing withdrawal symptoms and cravings—both of which can set an addict’s recovery back—without a sedating effect and no euphoric component, part of the psychological addiction of opioids.

The replacement drug can gradually be lowered for an addict to be weaned to an opioid more easily withdrawn from or to a drug-free state. Many find this an emotionally uncomfortable or impossible choice to sustain. The length of addiction and the amount of the addictive drug that had generally been used can make a big difference in treatments.

Withdrawal Symptoms

Early symptoms of withdrawal include: hot or cold flashes, sweating, agitation, anxiety, change in libido, dehydration, fatigue, insomnia, muscle aches, restless legs, confusion, lack of motivation, tearing, runny nose, and skin crawling. In later withdrawal, these symptoms can escalate to abdominal cramping, diarrhea, dilated pupils, goose bumps, nausea, and vomiting.

This is just a list of words. Try to imagine feeling even half of them at once. Since opioid abuse is often associated with pain relief, pain medicating is also part of the treatment program and part of the reason care is a long-term process. I couldn’t find information on this, but I would imagine if taken for pain, when withdrawing a person would be even more sensitized to that pain. If properly treated, most addicts can resume or perhaps for the first time start a healthy, productive life.

Not All Are Chosen

The Point of the Gospel

Parables con’t

The Wedding Banquet {Matthew}

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son and sent servants to those who had been invited to tell them the banquet was ready. They refused to go. The king ordered more servants to go to the guests and tell them that oxen and fat cattle had been prepared for the dinner. They ignored the servants and went about their business or, worse, mistreated or killed the servants.

“Enraged, the king sent his army to destroy the killers and burned their city. He said to his servants, ‘Those invited did not deserve my banquet. Go to the streets and invite anyone there.’

“Both good and bad people filled the wedding hall. The king noted that one man did not wear wedding finery. ‘How did you get in?’ the king asked. The man was speechless.

“The king ordered him bound hand and foot and thrown out into the darkness where there will be weeping and gritting of teeth. For many are invited but few are chosen.”

The Great Banquet {Luke}

Jesus went to eat at the house of a prominent Pharisee and noted people picking the places of honor at the table. He said, “If you take the best seats and someone more distinguished comes in, you will be humiliated when the host asks you to give up your seat for him. Instead, take the least important place and you will be honored in front of the fellow guests when your host sees you and asks you to take a better place. Everyone who places himself above others will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

A man in the house said, “Blessed is he who eats at the feast in the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus said, “A man prepared a great banquet and invited many. He sent his servants to tell the guests all was prepared. They made excuses not to come—one had bought a field he needed to go see, another had bought oxen and needed to work with them, and another had just gotten married.

“The servants reported back to the master who became angry and ordered his servants to go out and invite the poor, crippled, blind, and lame. One servant told him this had been done but there was still room. The master ordered them to go out to the roads and lanes and fill his house. He said, ‘Not one of those first invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

Dangers of Heroin

Drugs Combatting Drugs

Heroin has been in the news a lot, again. Relatively inexpensive, it has made a comeback in popular use. Based on the opium poppy, morphine is combined with two other components to make it two to four times stronger than morphine, injection giving the quickest and greatest initial rush and high, though it may also be smoked, snorted, or inserted as a suppository.

Technical name, diacetylmorphine, is legally used in prescription drugs for pain relief, cough suppressants, and anti-diarrhea medication. That surprised me. It is strictly licensed. Some countries also use it in opioid replacement therapy, similar to the methadone and buprenorphine used in this country, though studies in the UK and Switzerland show that diacetylmorphine is superior to methadone in improving the social life and health of addicts.

Some people hate the idea of using drugs to combat drug abuse and addiction, but it has clearly been demonstrated that without help, most addicts continue in their more hazardous drug behavior. Can they eventually be weaned of all drugs? I have to research that and will post my findings next week.

Dangers of Heroin Use

Heroin is a depressant and highly addictive in a short period of time and causes social and family problems as the person’s life revolves more and more around finding the next fix. Large doses of heroin can cause respiratory failure. Tolerance is a big problem. It develops fast with continued use, which requires greater doses to achieve the same effects. The tolerance also dissipates quickly if use is suspended for any length of time. The purity and therefore strength of the drug can also change drastically from dose to dose depending on the route it took from manufacture to sale. Additives to cut the heroin’s strength vary greatly and can be dangerous in themselves.

The user may not realize this, take the same amount as last time, and suffer respiratory failure or loss of consciousness, vomiting, and aspiration of that vomit. Because of this, it can be difficult to determine if a death was accidental, suicide, or homicide.

Other health risks include blood-borne diseases (HIV, hepatitis) incurred from user behavior—sharing needles and spoons to liquefy the drug for injection. With chronic use, veins used for injection become compromised and some inject directly into fatty tissue, which can cause abscesses, or more dangerous areas such as the femoral artery. Combining heroin with other substances, especially another depressant such as alcohol can heighten the body’s negative reaction.

Doing As Expected

The Point of the Gospel

Parable of Two sons {Matthew}

Jesus was teaching in the temple courts and said, “There was a man who had two sons. He asked the first to work in the vineyard, but he refused. Later he changed his mind and went. The father asked the same of the second son who said he would go but did not. Which of the two did what his father asked?”

“The first,” the chief priests and elders answered.

Jesus said, “The tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. John came to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. You saw this and still refused to turn from unrighteousness and believe.”

Parable of the Tenants {Matthew, Mark, and Luke}

“Listen to another parable: a landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. He rented it to some farmers and went on a journey. Near the harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the fruit. {Mark and Luke} He sent one servant whom they beat and sent away with nothing. They struck the second one sent on the head and treated him shamefully. They killed the third man sent. {Mark} Many others were sent and either beaten or killed. {Mark and Luke} At last the owner sent his son whom he loved.”

{Matthew} “He sent three servants. The tenants beat on one, killed another, and stoned a third. The owner sent more, all treated the same way. {Matthew, Mark, and Luke} He sent his son, thinking they’d respect him. But the tenants said to each other, ‘This is the heir. We’ll kill him and take his inheritance.’ They threw him from the vineyard and killed him. What will the owner do to those tenants?”

They answered, “He will kill them and give the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the corp.”

Jesus said, “Have you not read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.’” (Psalms 118: 22, 23) {Matthew and Luke} “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and he on whom it falls will be crushed.”