Talents and Gifts

We have talents, natural abilities
That we can improve with practice.
I have confidence in my cooking,
Reading, editing.

And we have gifts, unearned.
I can hope and pray that we welcome
Guests well, and that they leave our home blessed.
But I have no confidence that that will happen.

My sister and I wondered whether true gifts
Will ever be exercised in confidence,
Or if, because we did nothing to earn them,
We can do nothing to maintain them.

She was top of her class in art school.
I asked her if she ever felt unsure of her abilities.
After a pause, she said, “My first thought was,
‘Am I even good at art?’”

Answered.