17
RESPECT -
FROM FAMILY TO WORLD FAMILY
Paulachan Kochappilly, CMI, India
17.1 The Value of Values
Due to the influence of an encircling virtual world, we are either al-
most out of touch or have lost our connectivity with reality and actuality.
A discussion on values and virtues seems to be almost outdated and out
of place. Though this is the scenario, it has another side to it. People are
bored and tired of the virtual things, and therefore, there is an equal or
greater thirst and hunger for the real and actual world out there, which
fascinates and is full of surprises and beauty. It is on account of the
search for the real—true, good, and beautiful –that people turn to values
and virtues, which are tangible, credible, and meaningful.
Value or worth is inherent or intrinsic; it is inseparable from the
thing or the act. Worth is embodied; it is not anything attributed to or
imposed on it. This simply means that everything that exists is of value
and has worth; truth makes a claim, whether it is an act, or an event, or a
person or a thing. All is true, good, and beautiful regardless of the dispo-
sition of the beholder, though the interpretation of this goodness or
beauty may vary from person to person. In principle, everybody in the
world has a value; it is something to be discovered and disseminated so