Value – the gift of Divine love
The diamond represents the Divine Gift of Value
In our present Western culture, there is much talk about self-worth or value. We also use the word self-esteem as a basic human fundamental interior state. When missing, the person may exhibit destructive and negative habits. Armed with self-esteem a person may go on and conquer the proverbial mountains and rites of passage. Educational or organizational mission statements may emphasize value-based work or ethos. Value has been added to the classical caduceus as part of the interior requirements for the journey of remembrance.
Most humans will have their own value systems, specific and personal values, and may actively seek opportunities to feel valued, to grow their value, and to be seen as valued. We all can attest to things we value–our spouse, children, parents, friends, country, culture, house, possessions, our looks, body .. the list is endless. Different cultures have different values and therefore nothing is as is. There is no ‘this IS value’.
So is there another value that we seek? An ultimate value? An interior understanding that we are loved, and cherished not by others but by a singular all-knowing Absolute. This is a mystical union; a coming down of certainty; a process whereby value is imprinted within the heart of the self by a Greater Reality. There are apocryphal stories such as Christ’s birth being heralded by a star, as well as a new star being seen in the heavens at the time of the Prophet Mohammed’s Pbuh birth; who, it was said, had a very profound experience when very young:
“There came unto me two men, clothed in white, with a gold basin full of snow. Then they laid upon me, and, splitting open my breast, they brought forth my heart. This likewise they split open and took from it a black clot which they cast away. Then they washed my heart and my breast with the snow”
This supernatural occurrence, a mystical experience, laid into the very being of Mohammed Pbuh a sense of Self, and the innate value that God had bestowed upon him. Muslims see this story as a revealed reality, in that the Prophet’s heart was pure and unblemished–cleaned of any impurities, as pure as a precious stone.
We can take these stories as signs, and of course, interpret them in many ways. These inner experiences occur and give great solace and inner strength to the human who received it, for then they know of their innate value and worth in the Greater Reality. For the majority of us, little occurrences, perhaps a synchronicity, a profound luminous moment, a liminal experience may be the element that brings a state of knowing, of value to us. It may be small, but it is part of our own journey.
The following articles relate to the journey: