Tuesday, June 27, 2017

On Things of Value





          My father and mother-in-law were first generation German immigrants to the United States, having arrived in the 1920’s between the two world wars. Not only was their youth in Germany torn by WWI, but they also suffered the great instabilities of the German currency at the time. Louise, my mother-in-law, would tell me that, at her work, everyone got paid each day at noon so that they could go out at lunch and buy something, anything, before the money was completely devalued.

Values were distinct...

Consequently when I knew her, her values were distinct, hard and fast. Was the lace on the collar real? Was there a price tag left on her gifts so that she could see what was spent? A little brutal perhaps, but completely understandable given the instability in her life early on. She valued what she could hold in her hand, not pink clouds of good feelings.

 Beginnings and endings...

Yes, “things” have meaning; they have beginnings and endings; they can be weighed and measured. But there are the things of the Spirit, which can only make themselves known. There are the delights of the soul that have no physical models yet can mean everything. Can love be bound up in a box and sent through the mail?

A continuance...

Yes, we are part of the things of the earth, yet there is an element in us that cannot be captured as an item. There is a continuance about us that transcends anything we do, a majesty that is found in the very atmosphere we create, something that cannot be commanded or constrained, something that cannot be made, only discovered.

Would that Louise could have been able to enjoy that part of her most valuable self!

http://More Essays About Everything is now available on Amazon
 You may also enjoy "On Completions."
 

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