Gift of God

[Infidel Castro]

If someone says, quite sincerely, that they\'re blessed with a talent/gift from God, and you then see that talent on display and think oh, right, that\'s actually quite average, do you approach said person and tell him/her your thoughts on the matter, i.e.:

1. He/she is possibly deluded,
2. or God must have forgotten to give him/her the full quota.

If God\'s going to give someone a gift that\'s good enough and special enough to receive credit for, shouldn\'t it at least be a bloody decent dollop of talent?

I\'m being very guarded about who I\'m talking about, but something I saw yesterday just made me think
Aye, aye, someone is getting the wrong end of the stick here...

Nature of nurture? Gift or graft? At what point is something THAT good that it can be called a gift from God?

 

[hestan101]

when people say it annoys me beyond beleif. its like saying \"ha ha, well unfortuantetly youll never match me, as a divine being who supposedly looks over all of creation has decided to single me out as better than you lot\" im not saying thats in any way what they mean to say, but its what it comes as with me

 

[alextheartist]

I dunno, prehaps someone like Jonathan Edwards could say he had a gift from god to be good at jumping, but I agree with what you are saying that people cant just say, wow i\'m suddenly great at something. I\'m pretty sure that Jonathan Edwards worked pretty freaking hard to get to the standard he did..

Alex

 

[NGArtStudios]

Yet another one of those questions that can open up a potential can of worms.

When it comes down to it for me though, putting the religious thing aside, when someone tells me that they believe they are truly good at whatever it is they are talking about. If I were in your situation, it would just depend on whether I like the person or not. if I like the person, then I\'d go along with it, hell, why not right? If I don\'t like the person or can truly care less about them, then yea I would definitely tell them that they aren\'t all that just to tone them down a notch.

 

[Infidel Castro]

I don\'t want to take them down a notch though, as I\'ve no need to. The person is earnest from what I can gauge, and I don\'t see any benefit for anyone in being the iconoclast (relatively-speaking).

It is in relation to miniature painting, but I don\'t see the need to divulge. It just struck me how differently people assess the source of their talent. The painter is a decent 6.5-7.5-er, and I\'ve never had the chance to really converse with them. I won\'t either. I just wanted to grapple with the idea more than anything.

And whether I believe a deity might or might not grant a skill is a different question entirely - just a case of IF a deity did, surely it should have been a talent with very little to equal it, not an occasional step out of a level i see as average. That is what tickled me.

 

[Legacy Account]

I would just tell them that they are indeed \'special\' and really quite \'gifted\'....

Sounds like a person I work with! :beer:

 

[Infidel Castro]

Originally posted by alextheartist
I dunno, prehaps someone like Jonathan Edwards could say he had a gift from god to be good at jumping, but I agree with what you are saying that people cant just say, wow i\'m suddenly great at something. I\'m pretty sure that Jonathan Edwards worked pretty freaking hard to get to the standard he did..

Alex

God, he could look so wrapped up in his special relationship with the big feller lol

What a jumper though.

 

[Infidel Castro]

Originally posted by Spacemunkie
I would just tell them that they are indeed \'special\' and really quite \'gifted\'....

Sounds like a person I work with! :beer:

So, tell us some more! Go on, just a weeee bit. lol

 

[mattrock]

Originally posted by reverend
If someone says, quite sincerely, that they\'re blessed with a talent/gift from God, and you then see that talent on display and think oh, right, that\'s actually quite average, do you approach said person and tell him/her your thoughts on the matter, i.e.:

1. He/she is possibly deluded,
2. or God must have forgotten to give him/her the full quota.

If God\'s going to give someone a gift that\'s good enough and special enough to receive credit for, shouldn\'t it at least be a bloody decent dollop of talent?

I\'m being very guarded about who I\'m talking about, but something I saw yesterday just made me think
Aye, aye, someone is getting the wrong end of the stick here...

Nature of nurture? Gift or graft? At what point is something THAT good that it can be called a gift from God?

I think it\'s fair to say that a 6.5-7.5 painter has a gift that, say a 4-5 painter doesn\'t have...even if that gift is the perseverance to practice and increase their skills and the patience to endure it.

And if it is indeed a gift, and one is more faithfully inclined, then it would naturally and logically follow that this gift came from God, as to the person inclined to spirituality, our very next breath is a gift of God...

And if you aren\'t theistically inclined, what good would come of shaming the person by pointing our your less than stellar appreciation for their work?

I see no reason to make an issue of it, unless of course there is some justification of which I am unaware.

Perhaps when I\'ve solved all the rest of the world\'s problems I may see it differently...who knows?

 

[freakinacage]

what have you been smoking?

 

[squidders]

It\'s all about perspective isn\'t it... I mean, god made us all and decided to put nipples on blokes!

I don\'t believe in god but if I did I\'d spend a lot of my time looking at the sky, pointing and laughing loudly.

 

[Naukhel]

Personally, I\'d probably say something. But, then, I\'m kind of an ass.

Oh, wait. I just attacked myself in the forums. Now I have to report me.

:bouncy:

 

[sanctuary13]

Humility before all.

To self describe anything like a skill or talent as a \"gift from god\" is ludicrous.

I\'m a good mini painter, I\'m also a formerly professional musician, a damn good artist, on and on, yet to brag about any skill in such a manner is... wrong.

I am an Atheist, so I avoid such phrases, but I also have enough respect for those who do place weight in such words to not throw them about with aplomb.

 

[wiccanpony]

Originally posted by squidders
It\'s all about perspective isn\'t it... I mean, god made us all and decided to put nipples on blokes!

I don\'t believe in god but if I did I\'d spend a lot of my time looking at the sky, pointing and laughing loudly.

:twisted: to woman & gays, nipples on a bloke is not a bad thing:twisted:

as for \"a gift from god\" be sure to keep the receipt

 

[Infidel Castro]

I think the gist is that he felt blessed by God maybe, rather than saying it was a gift. Same thing? Not sure.

Mattrock - not sure where you\'re going with your attempt to put me down, but as I\'ve been EXTREMELY careful to avoid any finger-pointing, the thread is more about the consideration of people\'s views. No axe to grind here - please understand the effort I\'ve made to put that across before you try to knock me down.

 

[Infidel Castro]

Originally posted by Naukhel
Personally, I\'d probably say something. But, then, I\'m kind of an ass.

Oh, wait. I just attacked myself in the forums. Now I have to report me.

:bouncy:

I could defend you, but I\'m not sure how to do it lol

 

[ScottRadom]

If we\'re talking about people who genuinely feel they\'ve excelled or acheived a very high status in something, so much to say that they\'ve felt the touch of a higher power, and you feel that they\'ve just been plain touched by a severe lack of self critiscism then I say weigh your options.

Would it bring you satisfaction to reveal your appraisal of the talent level? Then do it. If not, who cares.

There\'s a local dude who is very quick to post his mini painting work up. He\'s good, better then me for sure, but certainly not above recieving crit\'s or help from others. Anytime he posts his work it\'s always very self congratulatory. And he never responds to the posts that offer crit\'s or help. I choose to leave the guy thinking he\'s \"all that\" rather then give him a fair and honest appraisal. If I liked the guy more I would try and point him in the direction to improve to the levels he feels he\'s operating at.

But I gotta know reverend..... spill names please? Even in a PM. I am just too nosy to not ask specifics!

 

[BarstoolProphet]

Originally posted by ScottRadom
But I gotta know reverend..... spill names please? Even in a PM. I am just too nosy to not ask specifics!

He\'s clearly talking about me...
I\'d ask who it is, but I can\'t keep a secret to save my life. If you want something advertised, tell me. It\'ll be everywhere in very little time at all. Even if I don\'t actually say anything, I can be read like a book. It\'s a total character flaw.

 

[Crayfish]

Gift from god?

Whaaat? In a miniature painting forum??
This is how i view god.
God is created by man, therefor God is infact not perfect. In that case people blessed by god or have a gift from god, is not perfect.

It\'s all about the logic... I could defend this for ages, but since there is no real debating a person that believes in something that is perfect in every way, why even bother! Sure it can be a little annoying at times and you just feel the urge to say something, but really, what can you say?

So reverend, the question im asking, why bother?

As Gregory House said and im not quoting since i dont actually remember the exact words. The line between being religious and crazy are so thin that we cant tell them apart. In the episode about the faith healer if anyone cares (Just love that show!)


Ohhh, not bashing any religion really... Just dont really like it thats all, you can have it, i just dont see the point!

 

[ScottRadom]

Originally posted by BarstoolProphet

Originally posted by ScottRadom
But I gotta know reverend..... spill names please? Even in a PM. I am just too nosy to not ask specifics!

He\'s clearly talking about me...
I\'d ask who it is, but I can\'t keep a secret to save my life. If you want something advertised, tell me. It\'ll be everywhere in very little time at all. Even if I don\'t actually say anything, I can be read like a book. It\'s a total character flaw.

Then it\'s not a character flaw.... your \"open-ness\" is a gift from God.