Dr Brainerd Prince
All writings, particularly reflective writings, are personal in the sense that in some way or other they communicate the intent of the writer, although we are past the age of naively flying the flag of ‘authorial intention’ in texts. Writings are personal, not only because they embody the views and opinions of the author, but also because they reflect the deep insights the author seeks to communicate on a subject. Often, there is something else that is equally going on in the writing of a text – through the very act of writing, the author, like her readers through their acts of reading, is answering a personal question and making a personal discovery for herself. It is this aspect of writing that primarily makes all writings personal.
The personal questions the author struggles with often arise out of the everyday engagements and reflections on circumstances. The long unplanned conversation with my good friend, Morse, began a line of questioning that I am hoping this act of writing will shed light and insight on, and perhaps, even point to answers.
I have known Morse my entire life. On the one hand he is very empathetic and generous with a huge heart that intuitively seeks the welfare of others. However, equally, on the other hand, in his professional life, he is not just sharp as a fiddle, but obsessed with success, value creation and making money. In his conversations, one is always able to see a monetary analysis and perspective. But this was the paradox! He lived quite frugally and his professional success in no way was reflected in his way of living. Hence, when he talks about money, I am forced to take him seriously and I am unable to dismiss him as one of those corporate ‘new rich’ who are unable to see anything beyond the colour green.
Our five-hour long conversation can be summed up as a quest to answer three interrelated questions: What is value? How is value created? Is there value beyond money?
Value as Worth: What is Value?
In our largely economic driven world the term ‘value’ is immediately translated as monetary ‘worth’ which is then quantified using the category of ‘money’. The phrase ‘net worth’ has become common parlance which values a human being in terms of their wealth. However, this usage should not be surprising as in the first usage of the term ‘value’ in the thirteenth century, it precisely meant ‘price equal to the intrinsic worth of a thing’. Only in the late fourteenth century, it broadened to mean the ‘degree to which something is useful or estimable’, in other words, the measurement of the usefulness of a thing. This came from the Old French, where ‘value’ meant ‘worth, price, moral worth’. It also meant ‘standing’ or ‘reputation’ from the Old French valoir which meant ‘be worth’ which in turn came from the Latin valere meaning ‘be strong, be well; be of value, be worth’. Thus, we see that although the term ‘value’ has other connotations such as ‘strength’, ‘wellness’, ‘moral wellbeing’, and ‘reputation’, its primary meaning is ‘worth’ which is measured with a ‘price’. No wonder, even today, the term primarily evokes an economic interpretation. But there are non-priced values. In other words, worth and value on which a price cannot be put. We already saw that things like character, strength, health, moral mores, reputation, to which perhaps we can add, peace of mind, relational value, et al, that have great value but cannot be assigned an equivalent price. Having acknowledged the existence of non-priced values, we must return to the predominant usage according to which value is seen as worth which can be economically priced. Therefore, to possess value means to have economic worth even if it is not traded. Perhaps, there is an insight here – to produce and create value is not about having fanciful ideas or being whimsical, rather it is about taking the long road of discipline, and in applying a habituated skill in producing something with intrinsic worth. The economic valuation or pricing is one way of measuring the value of such services and products. Value is thus valuable. Let us remember that superficially chasing after half-baked ideas or undisciplined hobbies will never get us to produce anything with intrinsic value. Pricing or placing a monetary value is one way of assessing the worth.
Worth as Work: How is value created?
If value is the worth of something, then how is worth produced or created? Is there any insight on what makes something worthy or valuable? For this we need to go to the Proto Indo-European root word wer from which we get the term ‘worth’. Although wer has several meanings, the most relevant meaning for our purposes is ‘to turn, bend’. This comes from the Sanskrit vartate meaning ‘turns around, rolls’ from which we get the Latin vertere meaning ‘to turn, turn back, be turned; convert, transform, translate; be changed’. This is a useful study because hidden within the word ‘worth’ we have an insight on its creation. There is a reference to the act of turning or converting, transforming and translating. An act of bringing change. This means that worth is created when an input is changed and transformed to an output which can then be priced. It is from this root that we get the term ‘ware’ which refers to ‘manufactured goods for sale’. Interestingly the related Hittite root hurki means ‘wheel’ and the Greek rhatane means ‘stirrer, ladle’. These can be seen as the tools and instruments of craft that is needed to turn and bend and bring about change to the raw materials. Thus, using these tools transformation is brought about to create or manufacture – this is what we call work. Therefore, worth is produced by the doing of work. In other words, worth is a result of work. Now, we already know that all work and worth need not be monetized, but the dominant practice is to put a value to the work done and produced. However, let us not forget, there are work that is not worth value, monetized or not! Here is where we can get a second insight – choose work that is worthy. Carefully choose work that is worthwhile, literally, worth your while, not just any work, but work that creates value.
Work as Worship: Is there value beyond money?
Finally, I would like to consider another related term ‘worship’ which also has ‘worth’ at the heart of it. The common understanding of ‘worship’ has the sense of ‘reverence paid to a supernatural or divine being’.In our predominantly secular world, while we are delighted to talk about life using economic terms, we hesitate to have and even disallow conversations that have a glint of association with religion. Religious vocabulary has become taboo in our modern secular society. I have been watching a Turkish web series titled Diriliş: Ertuğrul. It is a period drama set in the thirteenth century and based on the life of Ertuğrul, the father of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire. I have learnt so much from the lives and the Islamic faith of these Turkish nomadic tribes. What was striking however, was how their entire life is lived under the sacred canopy of God. Whether they went to war, fought, or married, or did business, everything was intrinsically related to God and their understanding of his plan for both their and their descendants’ lives. But in our enlightened world, the sacred canopy has been torn apart and religion has been driven out. It no longer makes any sense to use religious language in the public marketplace. However, here is an attempt to make sense of religious vocabulary and see what it has to teach us in our predominantly secular world. The term ‘worship’ comes from the Old English worðscip, wurðscip (Anglian), weorðscipe (West Saxon) meaning the "condition of being worthy, dignity, glory, distinction, honour, renown,".Another way of looking at this term is as a combination of two terms ‘worth’ and ‘ship’. While we already know what ‘worth’ means, we need to examine the meaning of ‘ship’. It is a word-forming element from the Old English sciepe that means ‘quality, condition’ or ‘act, power, skill’ or ‘office, position’. If the Anglican scip means ‘condition of being’ then scap means ‘to create, ordain, appoint’. What the term ‘worship’ does is that, it recognizes God to be that being who has worth and value. In other words, God because of his intrinsic worth and value becomes worthy of receiving glory and honour. This is precisely what worship entails. To look at it from another angle, all worship is a recognition and affirmation of value and worth possessed by God, which in no way can be monetized or priced.Religious folks are able to recognize this invaluable value in the work of God in both the macro structures of the world and in the micro workings of their lives. Worship is a genuine and legitimate response to that value and worth. The oxygen in the air, the planet that keeps us nourished, the life we live, all of these can be seen as a gift of God. They are priceless and without them life itself is not possible.
If value is the creation of worth, and worth is produced by meaningful work, then there are some priceless works of God that not only demands our worship but also is a model for us to emulate and follow.
