The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) encourages us to multiply what has been entrusted to us – – rather than playing it safe. To multiply talents requires hard work, risk, and creativity.
Examples like the one below (of how the Allies helped POW’s escape in WWII), remind me that human beings faced with desperate circumstances and a clear goal can be amazingly creative. Read the below example and consider the challenge to multiply what has been entrusted to you with this sort of resourcefulness.
The board game Monopoly served allied prisoners as a real-life tool to get out of jail during World War II, says Brian McMahon in Mental Floss, a magazine devoted to intellectual esoterica.
In 1941, the British Secret Service asked the game’s British licensee John Waddington Ltd. to add secret extras to some sets, which had become standard elements of the aid packages that the Red Cross delivered to allied prisoners of war. Along with the usual dog, top hat and and thimble, the sets had a metal file, compass, and silk maps of safe houses (silk, because it folds into small spaces and unfolds silently). Even better, real French, German and Italian currency was hidden underneath the game’s fake money. Departing allied soldiers and pilots were told that if they were captured they should look out for the special editions, identified by a red dot in the Free Parking space.
HT: Challies
