My grandma was born in 1920. She grew up during the depression, on rocky farmland in central Texas. Frugal became a life-long core value.
Years later, even after she and my grandpa owned homes and a 50-acre farm, one could still find cabinets full of cottage cheese containers. Their origin? Depression-era thought of “One never knows when you might need a multipurpose storage container.”
Values are funny things. While wildly important – they serve as both rudder and fence in our lives – they often work autonomically, with us totally unaware of their pervasive control.
They occupy “mini-god” seats over our behaviors, words, and love.
In crises, values ascend the power ladder. Our emotions run high and we tend to act without considering. People get stepped on. The future gets sacrificed. All at the behest of something we spend little time evaluating.
Perhaps today would be a good time to list out the deep values that drive your decisions.
On what rung does family stand? Compassion? Beauty? Listening? Your faith?
How do the things Jesus holds dear compare to your list?
The world around you has changed. At least for the foreseeable future. Which of those values that got you to today shouldn’t go with you into tomorrow?