Using Talents to Bless Others

I just watched a documentary about RSVP, Reconciliation Singers Voices of Peace, a music group that dedicates much, if not most, of the proceeds from their CD sales to charity. I've attended their (Free!) concerts on a handful of occasions, and I can personally recommend them as excellent musicians. (Link to their Facebook page, in case you're interested.) But their talent isn't why I'm blogging about them. I'm blogging about them because they use their talents to help others.

All people have talents, some of which more immediately and obviously beneficial than others. For instance, those with medical talents have a fairly clear and direct way to bless others. Those who can knit, crochet, sew, or quilt can make warm clothing and blankets for those that need them. Those who can build and/or repair houses can also donate their time in directly helpful ways. However, many other talents, like singing, are most beneficial to others when one also applies the talent of creative thinking. Singing for someone may help them in some ways, and that can certainly be comforting and uplifting, but for a singer's help to go beyond that, the singer would need to get creative with how they use their talent to bless others.

For those of us without obviously, directly beneficial talents, we need to find creative ways to use our talents to bless others. Perhaps, to make things a little easier for ourselves, we can follow RSVP's example and use our talents to raise awareness and to raise money for good causes. For another example, there's a Youtuber I follow named Timothy Hickson, who runs a channel titled Hello Future Me. His talents lie in analyzing fictional stories, characters, and worlds, mostly to entertain others, but at the moment, he is using his Youtube channel to raise money for Crisis Textline, which provides support for people who suffer from depression and mental illness. At the time I'm writing this, he has raised $10,280. By the time you read this, that number is almost certain to be even higher, and it's all going to a good cause.

Perhaps we can do something similar. Those of us who can craft can sell craft goods for charity. Those of us who can bake can sell baked goods for charity. I use my moderate writing talent to help my fellow college students with their writing skills and assignments so they can get through college and hopefully land decent careers. Perhaps there's more I can do.

We all have talents, and many of those talents can be used to help others. We just might need to get creative with our talents and/or monetize them so we can raise money for charity. There's always some way we can help. RSVP uses their singing talents to raise money and awareness for good causes, and Timothy Hickson is, at this very moment, using his Youtube channel for good as well. If talents like singing and literary analysis can be used to bless others, I'm sure our talents can as well.