A Sneak Peek into the book version of: "The Gospel According to Josh"



Hey there friends...so I decided I want to share another little piece of my soon-to-be released book with you. I just got back the second three chapters of my memoir from my editor and made a few changes and wanted to show it to you first. Barring any major revisions to the rest of the book...I’m giving you a sneak peek into :

 Chapter 9: A Visit from an Old Frenemy

        ....This money was the nicest gift my father had ever given me outside of not aborting me, feeding me, and occasionally throwing a football around with my younger self. He could have left everything to the church or some right-wing militant Christian organization, but instead he chose to give me something that didn’t come with a card signed by my mother from the both of them. 

This conundrum of what to do with my money reminded me of the Biblical Parable of the Talents as told by Jesus, the Jewish carpenter and not the Dominican baseball player, that had me leafing through my Bible for the first time in over a decade. 
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To make the Parable of the Talents a bit more relatable to our Muslim, Atheist, and non-Bible reading friends; I will tell it re-imagined as a 1980’s blockbuster Broadway musical starring the supremely talented Colm Wilkinson.
A wealthy hedge fund manager also a Scottish Lord named Lawrence Wankersford III, played by Wilkinson, was leaving his four story Brownstone apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to do business in Monte Carlo for a year. As he departed he gave three of his servants “talents,” which in the 1980’s was an interchangeable term for a large sum of money. 

To the first servant (played by Mandy Patinkin) he gave five talents. To the second servant played (Michael Crawford) he gave two talents. And to the third servant (Angela Lansbury), he gave one talent. 

When his year in Monte Carlo was over, Lawrence came back to Manhattan with a fresh tan from the French Riviera sun and partial ownership of a Monaco casino. Much to his delight he found that the first two servants invested their talents in IBM, Berkshire Hathaway, and a series of high performing junk bonds that made their talents grow exponentially. 

Lawrence was so pleased with the first two servants that he gave them honorary titles of Gentlemen within his House, more talents to invest, and a vacation in Martha’s Vineyard. 

But the third servant put her one and only talent under a mattress in the basement of his Brownstone apartment and waited till Lawrence came back from Monte Carlo so she could simply return him the money. Lawrence became furious with her for being all too cautious and punished her by taking away her talent. He then expelled her from his service, forcing her to live out her days as a poor purveyor of mysterious and delectable meat pies. 

The moral of the original story Jesus was telling may very well have been, “use it or lose it.” And he may have been making a valid point. 


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I hope to have another little something for you in about a month. Oh and leave a comment, please! Thanks for playing!

6 comments:

  1. It says that the master gave each to their own ability. That means the third servant did have at least SOME ability. BUT, his laziness coupled with his fear kept him from investing, therefore he did not reap any reward.

    I think this parable parallels with the spiritual gifts that God gives. He gives each to their own ability and when the gifts are used, blessing are reaped.

    On a side note, I find it interesting that this parable does not contain a servant that loses money.

    And also, the master to the three servants chose wisely when he was delegating the talents; he gave the least to the servant that ended up doing nothing!

    Interesting sneak peak, Josh! Thanks!

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  2. Very good insights, Chelsea and thanks for commenting. I think we never lose our "talents" but because of fear sometimes they're unused. Very good point you made. Thanks! :)

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    1. Aha! That makes sense! Thank you for the follow up. :)

      P.S. You spoke at Norco College a couple weeks ago and I was lucky enough to see your performance. That's why I subscribed to your blog and such. :)

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    2. Right on!! Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.

      And in Norco I had two great audiences. I really enjoyed my time out there. Thanks :)

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  3. I can't wait for the final release! Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Thanks Judy :) I'm gonna ship a special one to you!

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