You and I are "gifted" people. We live in a "gifted" country. We gather in a "gifted" institution. Regardless of our relative weaknesses, relative status, and relative talents, we are "gifted" by any reasonable definition of human success. We live in an industrialized nation and our lives are hardly struggling to survive. We enjoy sophisticated imaginations and privileged circumstances. Our talents are many. We do not struggle to survive. We have options -- we can speak the truth; we can grow and mature; we can build ourselves up in love; we can enjoy relationships which can draw upon one another's talents. We can also tear ourselves apart and degenerate into cold, calculated insensitivity. 

The author of today's text writes to people like us. It is not always an easy matter to get gifted…