Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world.

Value Speak – A Joe Walker Column

April  9, 2008

ValueSpeak

A Weekly Column

By Joseph Walker

 valuespeak@msn.com

PAYING THE PRICE FOR OUR VALUES

            I’ve got to be honest.  I don’t really get the whole “Hannah Montana” thing.

            Take the TV show, for example.  I’ve never watched an entire episode, so I’m no expert, but from what I can tell the star of the show is blonde when she’s playing singing superstar Hannah Montana, and she has dark hair when she’s playing normal, ordinary, school girl Miley Stewart.  Evidently no one at her school can tell that she and Hannah LOOK AND SOUND EXACTLY ALIKE – except for the hair. This is not unlike those in my generation who accepted the suspended belief that a room-full of reporters, trained in the skills of observation and examination, could not see that Clark Kent looked exactly like Superman – only with glasses.

             Still, young people today love the show and they love its star, Miley Cyrus.  My granddaughters are BIG into the show, and my 16-year-old son Jon thinks Miley is hot. And they are not alone.  It was recently announced that Miley will be appearing at a 4^th of July celebration in a nearby football stadium.  Nearly 60,000 tickets to the event went on sale a few days ago; they were gone in an hour.  According to news reports, a number of teenage girls camped on the sidewalk overnight to be first in line for the tickets.

            This is where it all starts to get a little surreal to me.  I guess I’m just not passionate enough about any entertainment event to stand in line to buy a ticket, then stand in another line to get into the stadium, then stand in another line to get my popcorn and soda. I'll stand in one line, maybe two (especially if the second line involves Diet Dr Pepper). But that's where I draw the line on lines. Any more line-standing than that is either immoral, illegal or just plain dumb.

            Still, I have to admire the . . . what shall we call it? . . . fervor of those who camped out on the sidewalk to buy tickets.  But I don’t really understand it. That’s probably because I’m old, and I’ve seen teen sensations come and go. But as I’ve aged, I’ve noticed that life's priorities have shifted, and entertainment occupies a lower rung on my personal Ladder of Values than it did when I was a pre-teenager and my “Hannah” was a Mouseketeer named Annette.

            The things I do value rarely require sidewalk camping – for which I'm profoundly grateful. But experience teaches that there is a cost associated with anything of worth, and a price that must be paid at the Box Office of Life for the things that we value.

            Faith, for example, is among the Things I Value Most. I like to think that I would be willing to die for my faith. But God hasn't required that of me – yet. Instead, God seems to be more interested in having me live for my faith – to be, in Bible terms, "an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." In some ways, it's harder to do that than it would be to die for my faith. But that's the price I must pay if I truly value my beliefs.

            My family occupies the next few rungs on my Ladder of Values. Thankfully, I've never had to camp on the sidewalk for them. But I've camped in the snow with my son's Scout troop. I've slept on the floor at my daughter's bedside during late-night asthma attacks. I've dozed fitfully in a chair while waiting for teenagers who are three hours late getting home from a date. I've shifted to the sofa when my snoring annoyed my wife (OK, the fact that she pushed me out of bed provided additional motivation). To be honest, I wouldn't have chosen any of those sleeping accommodations for myself. But when you love people and value your relationship with them, you pay the price – whatever it is.

            The same is true of anything we truly value. Do we value liberty? Then every once in a while we're going to have to fight – and possibly die – to protect it. Do we value free speech? Then occasionally we're going to have to give up the floor and allow someone else to espouse beliefs and ideas that are diametrically opposed to our own. Do we value human dignity? Then we need to be prepared to share with others who are less fortunate.

            Values aren’t free. They cost – sometimes a lot. That's why we need to carefully choose what we will value. Eventually there's a price to be paid, and we need to be sure it's worth it.

            Especially if it means we end up camping on the sidewalk.