Blog Post #82 - To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked. #gratitude

My friend visited from one of the coldest regions in USA - Minneapolis to the blessed land of Texas he mentioned a quote which his colleague has said

"To whom much is given much is expected"

I wasn't sure what it meant and I am sure you have your own interpretations too.

What I was sure about is that this didn't come from his colleague in Minnepolis but from India , China,Arabia or Constantinople (Present day - Istabul).

oh - the Chinese - I will write a blog soon about them - lot of interesting stuff in human history happened in china independent of the rest of the world - gunpowder to paper to Confucius to record keeping.

What happened in Constantinople is of a great significance to humanity - folks sitting down down in a conference room (kidding) to write/revise and rewrite a book called Bible after 300 years after Jesus Died.
Neither was Matthew,Mark or Luke alive but their books were.

Are you ever curious "Did Jesus write Bible?"

I don't know the answer but the books that Mark,Mathew,Luke are well preserved as sayings of Jesus and contains what I consider eternal truth (religious books from all religions contain eternal truths - surviving centuries and passing truth as humans never changed for 'ages' )


While googling (now an official English word for past few years since oxford dictionary added it) I stumbled upon 2 of the most influential characters in History.
Bill Gates and JFK.

Some times this quote is attributed to JFK. JFK took inspiration from Luke's quote from the Bible.

The inspiration for Kennedy's famous observation, "For of those to whom much is given, much is required" can be found in Luke 12:48: "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required." 

(Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/02/AR2006060201406.html)


Bill Gates - mom in her letter to Melinda during Bill Melinda weeding said this same quote.
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eimh45ehjl/bill-gates-from-those-to-whom-much-is-given-much-is-expected/
Bill's mom it seems always pushed him to do more and give more.!!!

I truely believe he is doing that with more than $30billion of his charity work ,his intellectual power and his influential presence in stages/place where it matters  - showing up to do Philanthropy is a new concept according to me.

Rich people write checks - Rockefeller . World changers write check ,recruit people to whom they hand over checks, go and meet leaders and ask for permission and ideas to work on those geographical areas , work with other Fortune 500 leaders and request them to donate more , be trust worthy mentee of Warren Buffet and utilize his $30+ billion wealth and run it along with Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and take the hatred of so many people who complain about him!

Look at Bill's hiring stratergy and his investment in IV - Intellectual Ventures.

http://intellectualventureslab.com/

Bill has been recruiting hackers to kill mosquito's using laser guns.

Watch Paul Pablos discuss and show videos on 
http://www.tedxtelaviv.com/2010/07/19/paul-pablos-holman-hacking-the-future/

Enough about rich people Bill Gates and Philanthropy . Lets talk about us - the normal people who live and die without much footprint. 

The secret to happiness it seems is happiness is you guessed it right - gratitude .

Most of feel may feel we are not blessed. 
The habit of counting your blessing is the hidden recipe for success .

Try it Today

Take a piece of paper or open your notepad in your computer and right now type 5 things you are grateful for.

Some suggestions

If you have a house - be grateful for that
Are you not sick today - be grateful for that
Do you have loved ones around you - be grateful for that
Do you have food to eat and clean water to drink- be grateful for that
Do you have money in bank account more than 0- be grateful for that

Health,Wealth,Food,Clothing,Shelter and company  sometimes taken for granted.
Teaching kids to be grateful for their toys,friends and school ( remember all kids don't go to school but your kids do!- did it ever occur to you?)

Most people reading this blog are in the top 30% of world's economic elite. 70% still struggle to live their daily life ( Statistics is never true - there is a statistics about how many statistics are true - paradox)

So in the morning and evening after you count your blessing and write in your journal or mind think what can you give?

To you lot has been given - now give back some to people who don't have any. 

We tell our kids to share - do we share our wealth?  

Let's not change the world and like mother Therasa says 

“I never look at the masses as my responsibility; I look at the individual. 
I can only love one person at a time - just one, one, one. 
So you begin. I began - I picked up one person. 
Maybe if I didn't pick up that one person, I wouldn't have picked up forty-two thousand....The same thing goes for you, the same thing in your family, the same thing in your church, your community. Just begin - one, one, one.”


Time to conclude with the parable from where it all starts. unless you are a christian you may not know this parable- if you are a hindu like me or Buddhist like me ( so what am i now?) or a Jew or a Muslim and it doesn't matter you read this parable as long as you got your concept right!

Now read this parable - which in short means a servant should always be ready to serve, Master should keep a watch and what I assume is second coming of Jesus.

Let your waist be dressed and your lamps burning. Be like men watching for their lord, when he returns from the marriage feast; that, when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open to him. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord will find watching when he comes. Most certainly I tell you, that he will dress himself, and make them recline, and will come and serve them. They will be blessed if he comes in the second or third watch, and finds them so. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore be ready also, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you don't expect him."

Peter said to him, "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everybody?"

The Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right times? Blessed is that servant whom his lord will find doing so when he comes. Truly I tell you, that he will set him over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, 'My lord delays his coming,' and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken, then the lord of that servant will come in a day when he isn't expecting him, and in an hour that he doesn't know, and will cut him in two, and place his portion with the unfaithful. That servant, who knew his lord's will, and didn't prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes, but he who didn't know, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. To whomever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked.

— Luke 12:35-48, World English Bible

Keep Giving and keep learning
Sivakumar Manikanteswaran