It wasn’t a thought-provoking conversation in which we were engaged. On the light side, it was just a pleasant one between two friends. But as we talked, something was said that, at once, caught the attention of my friend. Immediately, he reacted dismissively by saying, “Forget it. That’s not important.”
So, on the spur of the moment and without further thought or serious examination, a value judgment was rendered, and as a result, something was forgotten. It was brushed aside as insignificant and inconsequential.
“That is not important,” and its counterpart, “that is important,” are common expressions used regularly in everyday conversation by many folk, and they contain that which is often called a grain of truth.
It’s a simple fact of life upon which one can rely that some things are not really important and other things are important, and some of the things that are important are more important than others.
As a result, value judgments are required and are made day by day by everyone. In some instances, these judgments are significant, for they do, or at least they can, affect life, sometimes profoundly.
People, looking at something, don’t always agree on the importance of that particular thing; therefore importance is relative and it depends upon the individual making the judgment. Depending upon the perspective from which it is viewed, those viewing something, whatever it may be, may assign greater or lesser importance to it. So, an old expression says what’s trash to one person is treasure to another.
So, what is important? What really matters? What counts?
That’s the question, isn’t it? For almost 20 centuries, a significant guideline has supplied an answer to that perplexing question.
That guideline suggests that “the only thing that counts,” another way of saying “the only thing that is important,” is allowing faith, the belief system that is the basis of one’s core values, to express itself through love.
