Our gifts are nothing if they are not used, our wealth is worthless if it doesn’t serve. The value of what we have depends on how we use it, and the value of its use depends on the needs it serves. We often assign value to things because they are scarce and rare, but is value a feature of things or an aspect of need? This is a philosophical question. Some believe that gold has value because it is a rare mineral, while others believe that its value depends on people’s need for it. But what is light if it does not shine, what is salt if it has no taste, and what is food if no one eats it?
Scarcity?
When Elijah was sent to the woman of Zarephat, who had nothing but a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug, the two sides of this axiological argument me. This, so that we could understand how God had placed us humans at the center of every principle of value. The economic law of “elasticity of demand” points out that scarcity causes a high price for a given thing, but scarcity is also determined by need. For you cannot lack what you do not need, but you can need what you do not lack. The high price of petrol and other valuable commodities on the market is often attributed to scarcity, especially since supply is limited and cannot meet human needs.
However, we often make the mistake of focusing on the material in short supply and forgetting that it is human needs that make scarcity a value to be reckoned with. Some oil-producing countries have a surplus of petrol, but that does not make it less valuable, because people still need it even when there is an excess. Excess or lack of food may affect the cost and value of food, but it does not in any way diminish its value.
Re-evaluate
In today’s readings, God calls us to re-evaluate our economic principles, placing human life at the center of every value. If the wealth of this world does not meet the enormous needs of human life, then it is useless. Even if it is in excess or in short supply. Elijah lacked food and water in times of scarcity, but God sent him to a widow who had almost nothing, because God wants us to focus on the person and not on the material. He wants us to focus on human needs and not on commodities. The widow’s little food was precious because it was needed to serve human needs and save lives, not because it was a scarce commodity. Something can be scarce but useless.
Our gifts have immense value when they serve human Just as light is valuable because people can see it, and salt is valuable because people can taste it. If we put human lives and needs first in our economic policies, principles and priorities, our world will be like a heaven where a jar of flour is used but not spent, and a jug of oil is poured but not emptied.
Extremely well written. Thank you for a great reflection