I received a nice new ND-logo golf bag from my family this past Christmas. I don't know what they paid for it, but its worth a lot to me; because I needed a new golf bag, but most especially because somebody in my family (I suspect youngest son) picked it out just for me.
What is the grande latte I am drinking (which I just purchased from Starbucks on the drive to the office) worth? For the Starbucks corporation it is worth just under four bucks. For me, a guy who needs more than one large cup of coffee in the morning...just to begin feeling civil...it is worth the price I paid plus the enjoyment I am now experiencing by drinking it.
What is something worth? How about good health. Or, long life.
How about a roof over your head. Or, clean water to drink. Or, the freedom to come and go as you please.
How about a long-term loving/intimate relationship. How about seeing your children grow up in relative safety.
What is your job worth to you? Just the amount of money it affords you each month; or more?
What is a close circle of long-time friends worth?
What is a second chance worth?
What is the worth of a soul? Your soul?
I really like the play/movie "Damn Yankees." Its the story of Joe, a life-long Washington Senators fan (you may have to take a break right now to google "Washington Senators") and a hater of those damn Yankees who always beat his beloved home-town team.
Joe makes a pact with the devil: he will trade his soul for a chance, just one time, to wrest the League Championship away from those "Damn Yankees!" Its great theatre. And its greatness rests in the fact that the pact with the devil has an escape clause. Will Joe both beat those Yankees and win back his soul? Or will he win one and lose the other? (Spoiler alert: Its the former.)
For Joe, his soul was worth a shot at beating the Yankees.
You suspect, by the anguish he suffers when Joe exercises the escape clause, that Joe's soul was worth a great deal to the devil.
If we accept a rather broad definition of "soul" as "the immortal essence of a person," then what is that worth?
Some faith traditions, certainly the one I am a part of (Christianity), go on to add to the philosophical definition above, the belief that the human soul is capable of union with the Divine (with God). Now what is that worth?
Ever have one of those "dark night of the soul" experiences? Ever wonder if you would make it through to find the light of day again? Ever get the feeling (probably suggested to you by someone who doesn't know much about either theology or compassion) that your immortal self, your soul, was damaged...doomed...damned?
What is the worth of a soul? More than you might think, would be my answer. Philosophy broadly asserts that your soul is the immortal essence of who you are. That would make the soul...your soul...worth a great deal. Worth at least as much as the value of a human life.
The religions of most of the world's population more narrowly assert that your soul is capable of union with the person/presence/essence of God. That would make the soul...your soul...worth more than can be calculated. Worth at least as much as the value of the life of the Divine.
That's worth a little celebration, don't you think?
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