Beethoven

Recently I read about a football player who was offered a contract with a fantastic salary. The deal would make him a millionaire but with the prospect of very little to no playtime on the field. He gladly signed the contract saying that he didn’t care about not playing much because his wife and kids would have a good life. The way the football player presented himself was as having made a smart decision. No mention of the fact that players usually want to play as much as they can in order to proceed in their career.

In this context Beethoven’s quotation “Let us develop as fully as we can the gifts God has given us” seems to be from a different world. For this football player – as for many others nowadays – the development of his gifts went only as far as it would promise him more money. When the money came without having to work more on his talents, going forward in developing his talents didn’t seem necessary anymore. It is an orphan’s attitude to grab as much as one can now because no one cares for you. It's a pity that nowadays societies are creating more and more orphans like this football player instead of Beethovens who see it as their responsibility to develop their gifts at every stage of life. It’s a pity that this kind of attitude is not questioned but rather considered smart.