A Woman at Prayer - 4, "Values"

4th in a series of meditations from A Woman at Prayer by Rev. Conleth Overman

ON SARDINE CANS

Thought given to values can save worlds of grief.

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There is a story told of a missionary in the South Sea Islands. The only way that he could win the good will of the natives was by practicing medicine. It so happened that the son of the Island chief fell ill of pneumonia. When the witch doctors seemed unable to break the spell of the disease, the chief called for the missionary. His sound medical treatment saved the child. The chief was immensely pleased and, in his gratitude, determined to give the missionary the tribe's most precious possession. On the day determined amid great pomp and ceremony the object most treasured was presented to the missionary. He could scarce keep from laughing: The treasure of the tribe was a sardine can!

Perhaps this never happened; this story may be only a modern parable. But it carries a pointed lesson.   How many of us are like those South Sea Islanders in our over-valuation of the things we possess. Very few of us do not have our "sardine cans." 

Values to be Examined

Much confusion is introduced into women's lives by wrong values. To esteem a trifle as a treasure is the way to be unhappy. Why go to a lot of trouble to do what is not worth doing?  The poet Lowell pointed out the tragedy of wrong values when he wrote the lines:  "In the devil's booth all things are sold;  trifles are bought with a whole souls tasking." *   It would do us all a great deal of good if from time to time we would sit ourselves down and examine our values. It may be that we think too much of material possessions. Do we work and skimp and save so that we can buy more clothes, another appliance, new furniture?  The possession of these things is not in itself a virtue. They may not be worth the bother involved. Someone recently spoke of people who are "so busy making a career that they have no time to live."  That could be applied to many of us; we are so busy getting things for ourselves that we stop living.

Keeping up with the Joneses, staying abreast of every fad, trying to own each new product as the persistent advertisers cram it down our throats - all of this runs us ragged.  Life becomes a merry-go-round, a rat race, as a result of setting up erroneous values.

Christ's Clarification

Our  Lord gave us a yard-stick for measuring the true values of everything: . "What does it profit a man,". He said, "if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul? Or, what would a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matt. 16:26)

In a well-ordered life the spiritual is most es­teemed.  We were put in life to achieve a spiritual destiny. Therefore things of the spirit - prayer, church services, the Sacraments, love of God and neighbor, doing God's will - are most precious because they directly contribute to our success in life. Material things have their uses it is true, but their value is relative.  Only if material things really contribute to our soul's development are they worth bothering about. Once we learn this truth we'll throw out all the "sardine cans" that are cluttering up our life. 

*James Russell Lowell, The Vision of Sir Launfal