Potential can feel comfortable because it hasn't been tested.

But what happens when the fear of making a mistake prevents us from discovering what we're capable of doing?

In Part III of The Talent, Wanda continues exploring the parable of the talents and the thinking behind the servant's decision to bury what he had been given.

This conversation examines how fear can influence our understanding of responsibility, why discernment doesn't require complete certainty, and how waiting for the perfect decision can become a decision not to act.

Wanda also explores the difference between personal capacity and comparison.

The servant given two talents wasn't expected to produce what the servant given five could produce.

Yet we often measure our lives against people whose resources, experiences, opportunities, and responsibilities are entirely different from our own.

What happens when we're so focused on someone else's allocation that we stop developing our own?

This episode invites you to examine the difference between thoughtful preparation and avoidance—and consider what it means to participate in your life without knowing every step ahead.

A reflection to carry with you:

Are you making decisions based on what you know—or what you're afraid might happen?

There's a difference between protecting something and burying it. Sometimes that difference is fear.

In Part II of The Talent, Wanda explores what stewardship actually requires—and why responsible-looking habits can sometimes keep us from developing what we already have.

From unopened financial statements and unused course knowledge to ideas that have remained in notebooks for years, this conversation examines the space between preparing for something and participating in it.

Drawing on the parable of the talents, Wanda challenges a common assumption: that keeping something safe always means we're caring for it well.

The conversation also explores a deeper possibility. What if we're not simply afraid of failure? What if we're afraid of the evidence that comes from actually trying?

This isn't an invitation to abandon planning, take unnecessary financial risks, or turn every gift into a business. It's an invitation to examine whether our preparation is still serving its purpose.

Reflection: Is there something in your life you've been carefully preserving that may now need thoughtful development?

What if the thing you're waiting for isn't actually the next thing you need?

In St. Matthew 25, Jesus tells the Parable of the Talents. And despite how we often use the word talent today, the original story wasn't about someone's ability to sing, write, teach, paint, or play the piano.

A talent was a measure of wealth.

But beneath the financial story is a much larger question:

What do you do with what has been entrusted to you?

Your money.

Your ideas.

Your knowledge.

Your opportunities.

Your relationships.

Your experiences.

We can spend a lot of time asking God for more. More clarity. More resources. Another opportunity. A better connection.

An open door.

But perhaps there are moments when the question isn't what we're waiting to receive. It's what we're doing with what we already have.

In Part I, we look closely at the three servants—and especially the one who received a single talent. Guess what, he didn't lose it. He didn't squander it. He protected it and returned exactly what he had received.

But he never put it to work. And that leaves us with an uncomfortable question:

Is protecting something always the same as stewarding it?

Maybe not.