Too Many to be of Value

Something that my parents and I have in common is our love for antiques. Now I used to be more of a collector than I am today. Today, I spend more time trying to sell my finds from the past. It is not as easy as it might seem when you originally make your find. If you try to sell directly to someone in retail, it is especially difficult. More often than not, they want to pay you little to nothing for something that you know to be of much more value. Today I brought over a medal from WWII. It was a Civil service medal. Everyone who ever fought in the war received one. The fact that it is from such an important time in history has no bearing on its value. The fact that everyone had one and that they are common was the determining factor in the piece being of no value to the collector.

As I drove home, I began to think of the significance of his statement concerning the medals being everywhere and of no value. It is often the way we think about many things of which there are large quantities. For those who have much wealth, money might be something that is not as valuable to them. A quarter on the side walk might be something that someone with millions would just step over and think to themselves that they will leave that for someone who needs it. There are many examples of things, people, jobs, etc that we take for granted and forget the true value of because we are used to it or have more than enough.

Everything in life has value. That Civil service medal may just be one of the millions that are lying around in various attics around the country, but for all we know, it could have been owned by a war hero who also earned a purple heart or medal of honor. Either way, every man who fought that war is a hero to some degree. A hero of sacrificing a portion of their lives for their country.

It is fun to collect antiques and sell them. It is fun to imagine who owned them. Sometimes it is discouraging when others do not see the value in what you have. We each have a story. Someday, someone might try to pawn off to an antique dealer something that we owned and treasured. Without the knowledge of who we are, it might just be another one in a million item of no value. It is sad, but it is okay because the most valuable things are not the things we leave behind. The value in life lies in our actions and motivation that are done for God and that will last through eternity.