Skip to main content

Value and Misplaced Value

Recently I heard a homily (sermon) that provoked my thinking.  The speaker was talking about Americans’ obsession with shopping.  I relaxed, thinking that the sermon would not apply to me.  I hate shopping!  The thought of going to a mall, simply to walk around and “window shop” seems as insane to me as jumping off a tall ladder.  When I have to go shopping---and I mean, “have” to go---I know what I want.  I go directly to whatever it is, buy it and leave as expeditiously as possible.
   
But the speaker soon brought me into his web of indictment.  It was very clever, because I did not see the theme of the homily to be indictment.  I know he would shudder that I introduced a legal term, like indictment.  He is actually very non-judgmental.  And of course, indictment is a direct accusation meant to head directly to judgment.  So let me say, I was spiritually indicted.
   
You see, the real point was not actually about shopping.  The real point was about value.  The real point was about the things we value.  Let’s stay with the idea of things, leaving other people out of the picture for the time being.  Much of the value we attribute to things is not inherent value.  Many things are given arbitrary value. 
   
The example my speaker friend used is interesting.  If I go shopping for a shirt, the sales person might tell me the shirt was $50, but I can now buy it on sale for $30.  I quickly hand over my credit card.  I smugly think that I have “saved” $20.  But then, my balloon of smugness is popped when my friend reminded the audience that only warped Americans would think they just “saved” $20 when, in fact, they just spent $30!  He sardonically added, “I was taught you only save money if you don’t spend the money!”
   
I was hooked.  I was intrigued about the process of how I value things.  In many cases somebody else has determined the price---the value---of the thing.  The price is supposed to tell me what the thing is worth.  As I began to think about it, I realized the price of something and its worth are not necessarily the same.  It is possible that a thing has a price and it is worth less to me.  Or it might even be worthless to me.  My value of it is very different from its sticker price.
   
Of course, it is easy now to transition to a discussion of other aspects of life.  In fact, every day we indicate how we value our lives.  We all “spend” time doing something---or spend it doing nothing.  How we spend our time reveals what we value---what we “say” is important.  As I have often said, time is a gift.  Every day we are alive, we are given a gift of twenty-four hours.  It is as if God hands us the time envelop and says, “It’s yours; spend it as you wish.  I want to see what you value.”
   
When I put it this way, I do feel indicted.  Most of the time I probably don’t actually see time as a gift.  Of course, I don’t think I earn the time I am given.  In reality I don’t really think about it.  When I put it honestly, that means I take it for granted.  If this is true, then I am basically not grateful for my time.  I don’t really value it.  It is worth less than it actually should be.
   
If I don’t value it, then I cannot appreciate it.  I am confident one of the spiritual keys of life is to live such that you are aware of the gift that life is and to appreciate that gift.  This quality of spiritual life is not found on a shopping spree.  There is no mall in America offering a deal on spiritual life.  There is no sticker price and never will there be a sale.
   
There are no tricks to the spiritual life.  But there are some sure building blocks that we can put into place to create a vibrant spiritual journey.  One of these blocks is the basic awareness of the gift of life itself.  If I can become aware of my life as a gift, then I can begin to value my life and begin to build a life that is worth something.  As I grow spiritually, the worth of my life increases---becomes more worthy.
   
If I continue living life spiritually, then I will “spend” more and more time in worthwhile endeavors.  I may not become a saint, but I will be on the way.  There is little room for pride or smugness here.  There is no room because I continually remember that my life is a gift.  I am not lucky.  I am not fortunate.  I simply am gifted---just like other human beings.
   
But with gift comes responsibility.  I have the responsibility to place appropriate value on things (and on people).  The early part of the spiritual journey is to see where I have misplaced value and to correct that.  There are so many ways in our culture to misplace values or to be duped by the values culture places on things.  I don’t see myself as a dope, but I am a dope if I have been duped by misplaced cultural values.
   
It hit me!  I have an opportunity to re-evaluate; I can look again at my valuing.  Is it misplaced?  Where is the right place for my values---the source of my worth?  I conclude it is in God, in the spiritual journey and the building up of the spiritual community.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I-Thou Relationships

Those of us who have read theology or, perhaps, those who are people of faith and are old enough might well recognize this title as a reminder of the late Jewish philosopher and theologian, Martin Buber.   I remember reading Buber’s book, I and Thou , when I was in college in the 1960s.   It was already a famous book by then.   I am not sure I fully understood it, but that would not be the last time I read it.   It has been a while since I looked at the book.             Buber came up in a conversation with a friend who asked if I had seen the recent article by David Brooks?   I had not seen it, but when I was told about it, I knew I would quickly locate and read that piece.   I very much like what Brooks decides to write about and what he contributes to societal conversation.   I wish more people read him and took him seriously.             Brooks’ article focused on the 2016 contentious election.   He provocatively suggests, “Read Buber, Not the Polls!”   I think Brooks puts

Spiritual Commitment

I was reading along in a very nice little book and hit these lines about commitment.   The author, Mitch Albom, uses the voice of one of the main characters of his nonfiction book about faith to reflect on commitment.   The voice belongs to Albom’s old rabbi of the Jewish synagogue where he went until his college days.   The old rabbi, Albert Lewis, says “the word ‘commitment’ has lost its meaning.”    The rabbi continues in a way that surely would have many people saying, “Amen!”   About commitment he says, “I’m old enough when it used to be a positive.   A committed person was someone to be admired.   He was loyal and steady.   Now a commitment is something you avoid.   You don’t want to tie yourself down.”   I also think I am old enough to know that commitment was usually a positive word.   I can think of a range of situations in which commitment would have been seen to be positive.   For example, growing up was full of sports for me.   Commitment would have been presupposed t

Inward Journey and Outward Pilgrimage

There are so many different ways to think about the spiritual life.   And of course, in our country there are so many different variations of religious experiences.   There are liberals and conservatives.   There are fundamentalists and Pentecostals.   Besides the dizzying variety of Christian traditions, there are many different non-Christian traditions.   There are the major traditions, such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and so on.   There are the slightly more obscure traditions, such as Sikhism, Jainism, etc.   And then there are more fringe groups and, even, pseudo-religions.   There are defining doctrines and religious practices.   Some of these are specific to a particular tradition or a few traditions, such as the koan , which is used in Zen Buddhism for example.   Other defining doctrines or practices are common across the religious board.   Something like meditation would be a good example.   Christians meditate; Buddhists meditate.   And other groups practice this spiri