Posted October 25, 2007
How Much Is a Human Worth?At mid-century prices, an iron ingot sold for $5. Made into horseshoes, its value was $10.50. Manufactured into needles, its value jumped to $5,000. Crafted into high-grade balance springs for watches, it’s worth a quarter of a million dollars!Workmanship of a human enhances the value of the most ordinary material. But what is the value of the human workman, “made a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned with glory and honor” (Ps 8:5)? The decline of morality, according to James Reston, is due to the “decline in the belief in each person as something precious.” Value-regard is the soil of love-the criterion by which all men will know that we are Jesus’ disciples (see John 13:35). The challenge is to “not love [merely] with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 Jn 3:18).There are countless ways to do this: a father devoting as much time and interest to his wife and children as to his job; a mother radiating inspiration, as only she can, to her children; a student studying diligently to be better prepared to change the world by his chosen profession; the nurse who shows that the “unwritten ingredient in each prescription is love”; the mechanic who enjoys making cars safer for others; the politician who puts truth and justice above the garnishing of votes; the writer who seeks to uplift, not downgrade, the ideals of his readers; the “everyman” who cultivates love wherever it isn’t thriving. “One-Minute Meditations for Busy People”