A man’s worth

We are now in the midst of the Lenten Season when, for 40 days of fasting, confession and repentance, the Christian faithful recall the arduous and tortuous journey of Jesus Christ on His mission to save mankind, to sacrifice Himself with the shedding of His Blood and by suffering untold agonies and dying on the Cross to redeem Man. His journey ended not with His death but in the glory of His Resurrection, and because of His Resurrection Man was saved.

For those of us who are in the twilight of our years, the Lenten season is a good time for us to reflect on our life, to ask ourselves — when the inevitable day of reckoning arrives, our Maker will confront us and ask — Man, what is your worth?

Indeed, how will our worth be measured? How will we be judged if we have been a good man? Will a transgression cause us to descend to eternal damnation in the fire of Hades or can we hope to still join our Creator in the bliss of the eternal love and never ending joy of the eternal heaven of Paradise because of the good we had done which benefited many lives?

Indulge me, please, and allow me to approach this question from a perspective I have had practically during my entire career. Being a finance person used to dealing with financial statements, I am of course most at home with financial statements in determining the worth of a possible investment. After looking at the profit and loss, which is essentially only a snapshot of a particular period of time, to check if a profit or a loss has been registered for that particular period.

The evaluation of the investment possibility’s worth, however, would not end there. I would next look at the balance sheet to ascertain if the snapshot represents a consistent viability or, for the reverse, the worthlessness of the investment. And for the non-finance oriented readers out there, you may ask, why is this so? The simple answer is that you never make a judgement based only on a snapshot, you evaluate based on the proposed investment’s totality, particularly if it is solvent, meaning the assets far outweigh the liabilities, and in fact shows promise for a recovery.

You consider the circumstances that could have triggered the loss or if it was merely a blip that could have been prompted by an unforeseen event that has already been corrected.

Perhaps such an approach can be used to determine a man’s worth. Let’s accept first the hard reality that no one is perfect. The original sin of Adam and Eve condemned us to this reality but it is through God’s kindness that we can be saved. The Bible has numerous verses that clearly demonstrate God’s willingness to forgive.

Psalm 86:5 declares: “For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.”

1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Mark 11:26: “But if you do not forgive, neither will the Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”

Matthew 6:14: “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

Luke 7:48: “Then He said to her, your sins are forgiven.”

So, why did I choose this particular topic for my piece this week?

Well, of late, there have been unfortunate allegations about a man who has spent his whole life serving thousands of the downtrodden through the establishment of self-sustaining communities to alleviate man’s basic needs in order to have a humane and decent life.

The Lenten season is a good time for us to reflect on our life, to ask ourselves — when the inevitable day of reckoning arrives, our Maker will confront us and ask — Man, what is your worth?

I refer to the perennial scourge of the majority of our countrymen — poverty and shelter. This man’s endeavors which have been recognized universally both here and abroad have set the gold standard on how to render service to the needy not through dole-outs but through self-sustaining poverty alleviation and community building projects that will instill hope for a better future.

Whether the allegations which this man, as well as hundreds of his believers, strongly rejected will ultimately be proven to be true or not, only time will tell, and of course by the turn of our inexorably slow wheels of justice.

Even if the allegations are eventually determined by the courts to be upheld, would that be enough reason for us to cast a stone and denigrate this man, or should we, as God has shown, forgive and instead remember the good that the man has done?

Until next week… OBF!

For comments, email bing_matoto@yahoo.com.