What You Value

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Originally Posted by Deebs

The title and placement of this thread led me to believe briefly that its subject matter might be soulful.

On the contrary, the intrinsic value of something is not found in its so-called monetary worth or its marketability to the general public but in the people who sign onto it every day and breathe life into its pages. People like you and me, and that guy and some other people. But probably mostly that guy. These 'regular' folk are the true heart of LoT. They are its worth. How you say, its 'soulful' element. A man or a woman (or a half man/half woman) can open a thousand threads and never find what they seek, because the reality of it is, what they seek is within themselves. And if it is not within themselves, it is probably close by, perhaps, in a jar. So, it begs the question, what exactly do they seek and why is it in a jar? We will probably never know.

The Betty Crocker Cook's Dictionary defines soul, thusly, (noun) A European flatfish, Solea solea, used for food. Often eaten with cake. See, fish, Filet of.

Those words should give us all pause. Not for what is possibly an embarrassing contextual misinterpretation of the word, soul, but for what it doesn't say, and that is, I must invest in a real dictionary.

I am reminded of a joke about a man who goes into a bakery and requests a cookie made in the shape of the letter, ‘e’. He returns the next day but he is disappointed to see that the letter ‘e’ has been done as a capital ‘e’, as such -- E. The man is outraged and orders the baker to prepare him a new one as the cookie, in its present state, is simply not acceptable. The next day the man returns and the baker shows him the new cookie. It has been done to the man's specifications and the man is delighted. The relieved baker asks him if he would like the cookie wrapped up. “No,” the man says. “I will eat it here.” And he did.

I hope that clears some things up.

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