I had the indescribable pleasure of visiting one of my daughters last week. She lives in a part of the world that many would describe as “paradise”. The weather beckons me as a midwesterner to “come out and enjoy”. Anyone who can walk, run, bike or stroll finds no excuse in staying under any kind of roof. I have been making this journey for over twenty years and I do not recall a time that my daughter and I were enjoying a long walk and saw no other person sharing the delight of what nature provides.
Because God has aligned the sun, dropped down an ocean of H20 and invited palms trees and exotic plants to bury their feet and explode in brilliant colors, the value of a postage stamp size piece of property is out of reach of most middle-class men and women. If you want to make paradise your home, be prepared to pay the price. Rentals are twice what is charged in my suburban neighborhood. Gasoline prices are always at least a dollar more than here and if your keen on movies, you better be ready to empty your wallet just to walk through the magical doors of the big screen.
A simple ham and cheese croissant sandwich purchased at my local grocery would remove about five dollars from my wallet if I wanted to fill my lunch bag with a readily made treat. I was required to part with fourteen dollars if I wanted to savor the flavor of salty meat with buttery bread in this paradise.
The “value” we place on tangible things is often based on fluid ideas of importance, greatness, and scarcity. Did you ever notice when the storehouse is full, the value of each individual item declines? If you love bananas, and it is not grocery shopping day, but there is only one left hanging on your banana tree, doesn’t that banana suddenly have great worth? Doesn’t it somehow cause your taste buds to explode and your chewing to slow down a little? I bet if your banana tree was bursting with these soft, yellow fruits, the flavor, the experience would not be the “event” as it would be if it were your last.
All this makes me wonder. What goes into the algebraic formula of placing value in those temporary things; more importantly, those people in my own life. It may seem like a huge leap to go from sandy beaches and gas prices to air-breathing, heart-beating human beings, but hold on I promise to get to my point soon.
It is very risky to expose these humbling truths about myself to the world, I trust you will withhold your judgments until you search your own heart as I have searched mine with my Father holding a painfully bright flashlight while I glance inside. I don’t like so much of what I see. He does not show me these things punitively or as punishment, but out of love for me. He does not want me, or any of us to remain oblivious to our true selves. And, without His light, our hearts have no other option but to remain in darkness.
I have found that I place value, a sort of “pecking order” to people around me. Those that are a constant part of my life as well as those who breeze in and back out without me really noticing.
I confess that, in the past, I have taken phone calls from those whom I rated higher in this order while letting calls go to voice mail who may be farther down. I have returned a text right away to some but took my time with others. Have you heard “its the squeaky wheel that gets the grease”? Although I have found this to be true in most instances, there is more to how we respond to each another than silencing an annoying sound that stings our ears. Sometimes our response to others comes in the form of placing intangible and ever-changing value to each encounter. It takes but a few seconds to determine if it is a worthwhile exchange. The benefit may be in the kaleidoscope of how I view myself. I may convince myself that I am a “good” person if I treat some fellow human being in a kind manner. The benefit is the brief satisfaction of knowing that “I am good”. Or, the benefit of such an encounter may enable me to chock up points with someone who is higher than I see myself on the totem pole of life than I am at that particular moment. These “points” may prove beneficial at another time; that is, The logic of “I will scratch your back if you scratch mine”.
The odd thing is, the value placed on each encounter is not stagnant. The pecking order is moveable, pliable. We all go up and down the totem pole with the changing of the tide, the culture’s perception and designation of importance. Just think, it used to mean you had little financial means if you wore jeans with the knees worn out. Now it has quite a different meaning.
Fortunately, we have been given a guidebook which does not rewrite itself based on the newest “Who’s Who” or the latest article with airbrushed photos of the rich and famous. It demonstrates how each of us has intrinsic value and great worth that is not diminished or heightened by physical appearance, popularity, power, failures or successes. This Holy Bible weaves the Father’s love for us through every page and every story of misfit men and women that he calls His own. It communicates how we are precious, how we are fully-loved and directs us in ways to treat one another that reflect His heart. It shows us how to build up and encourage one another; ways that acknowledge and celebrate the magic of being wholly human and eternal.
So, with prayer and the faithful activity of the Holy Spirit, I am looking forward to replacing the ever-changing value that this planet places on fellow human beings with a new mind, a new heart. A mind that perceives all, from the zygote to the 101-year dementia patient, as having great and irreplaceable worth, and a heart filled with love for all those that I have the pleasure of sharing even just a moment with on this side of Heaven.
Shalom,
Karen
This, I confess again, is quite the moral shortcoming.