Please read the passage before the homily.
King Belshazzar gave a great banquet. He had all the invited people drink from the sacred vessels that had been taken from the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem. This was sacrilegious and, apparently judging from the context, intentionally being celebrated, when a hand appears on the wall writing.
The king summoned all the wise men of his realm and asked for an interpretation of the writing. None could, except for the Hebrew captive Daniel. The words indicate coins of differing value. Daniel explains them as numbering the king’s life, as indication the emptiness of his living, and the division of his kingdom. Every one applauds Daniel’s interpretation and he is rewarded.
There is, however, another explanation one that may have deeper and perhaps a more personal and bitter interpretation. What if the three words were comparable to a five-pound gold ingot, a five-hundred-dollar gold coin and a penny? The ingot would describe the splendor of the reign of the king’s grandfather, gold coin the lesser splendor of his father’s reign, and the penny, the worthlessness of Belshazzar’s life and reign.
This would be an interpretation the king’s loyal advisors would be unwilling to give. This would make Daniel the only one willing to put his life in jeopardy. Daniel would be the only person whom a wise person would like to have as an advisor and consultant.
Does the advice we give and the example we give declare us to be as valuable as a gold ingot or a gold coin, or do they mark as being about as worthless as a penny? If so, what does the handwriting on our wall tell us what we should be doing?