Value

It is probably an age thing but I seem to be at a stage of life when I enjoy watching programmes on antiques and collectables. When I am sitting on my sofa watching another episode of the Antiques Roadshow, I try and work out my own valuation on the items. I am rarely correct. I am still amused by the now ubiquitous comment that “I’ll never part with it” delivered with a deadpan face when, like on Sunday past when a pair of Queen Victorias drawers and other assorted underwear were valued at £15000. As they say in these parts “Aye right!”  
I particularly love it when an item that had been kicking around in the loft for decades realises an incredible valuation. An example of this was when an owner brought along a Leica camara to the Roadshow. It was an item he’d owned it for 45 years and didn’t consider it unusual. However, it turned out to be a very rare camera; - one of only four made. Valuing initially at a relatively modest £5,000 the expert added that: “Leica collectors are a law unto themselves and they would fall over each other to acquire something out of the ordinary.” When it went up for sale 12 years later they did just that when it was sold for £320,000.
Worth is determined by a range of factors – including age, rarity, composition, aesthetics, collectability, consumer demand and the “x factor” which is something beyond the bounds of objectivity. For me this is best illustrated in the world of fine art. I can’t imagine why someone would be willing to pay £200million  for a canvas that appears to have been created by a beginner. This was the price paid for the abstract titled “Interchange” by William De Kooning in 2015. It’s not just objects whose value is subject to market forces. Consider the wages paid to top level soccer players or the transfer fees they command. What factors determined the world record fee of £200million for Neymar’s move from Barcelona to PSG?  So people, like objects have worth. The sad thing is that how we value people has no objectivity - as it is a fickle, personal and subjective calculation. First impressions count and that truism so often is the yardstick by which we determine the value of others. So many people are relegated to voiceless lonely existences because of how they look, or sound, their skin colour, religion or sexual orientation. How can we be so shallow as to allow people to be valued in terms of their utility or attractiveness. We all bear the image of God. We all are equally loved by him and are of equal value to him. Maybe we need to reflect before we make quick judgements of the value of others, because those first impressions have the potential to be life changing.