And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. And I was afraid - of making matters worse by meddling with it at all.
And went and hid thy talent in the earth. This depicts the conduct of all those who shut up their gifts from the active service of Christ, without actually prostituting them to unworthy uses. Fitly, therefore, may it, at least, comprehend those, to whom Trench refers, who, in the early Church, pleaded that they had enough to do with their own souls, and were afraid of losing them in trying to save others; and so, instead of being the salt of the earth, thought rather of keeping their own saltness, by withdrawing sometimes into caves and wildernesses, from all those active ministries of love by which they might have served their brethren.
Lo, there thou hast that is thine.