What’s one thing you own that holds deep sentimental value?
I own many things that hold deep sentimental value, but for today’s prompt I will share the one that carries a collective memory—of shared knowledge, common vision and values, and friendship.
During my working years, I attended annual training conferences held in different countries, and collected a number of national and organisational plaques from North America, Europe, and Australasia. They are not hidden away in drawers or gift boxes. Since the 2000s they have been hung conspicuously on the walls of my study, shared with every visitor to my home.
Each plaque represents a story worth telling—the history, commitment, and honour to which it belongs. And each plaque I have kept is a token of my respect and friendship with those who gave it. Together they mark the sentimental significance of my journey of discovery into the different cultures and traditions of foreign lands.
Yet what connects me most deeply is not a shiny souvenir or a piece of decorative art. What connects me most is the people who together created that history, who share the same memories, and who pass on precious experience to the next generations.
And sentimentality is not the exclusive property of past times. It lives in every present minute—every minute written into the world’s history—no matter how tiny a dot it makes on the entire planet. Just like every teen I mentor, sharing joy over their improved school performance; every patient I visit, connecting their lives to the Truth; and every soul I counsel, lightening a ray of hope in their hearts: together we create a history—a history that belongs not only to us but also to the world’s book.
So to my old friends in North America, Europe, and Australasia, and to the new people I connect with through each day’s prompt: what we do every day is a new page in our lives—a new sentiment we create, share, and carry forward with us.
Yet what powers me through the journey of my life is not a collected plaque, nor a story to tell, but a shared Truth that links me to the people whose paths cross mine. And that Truth is everlasting—and so is the light of people (John 1:1–4).
Sentimental value, whether deep or shallow, reaches only the things and people of this earth. But it is the Truth that carries you to the eternal realm. May the poem below shed light on your journey of discovery.
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“Grasping Time — Old Time? New Time?”
At the words “new product,” curiosity stirs the heart;
the old must go, the new must come—so runs the art.
To innovate, the crowds all surge and press ahead;
to renew, yet many are filled with fear and dread.
Beasts live by instinct, simple and sure;
man, torn by contradiction, stands unsure.
Fate—to the left or right?
Some say clutching old memories lends safety to their flight.
Pierce through time and space—live in today;
the wheel of fate turns, and change finds its way.
Live well in the new time, the now, the present hour;
the old time, the bygone, becomes your driving power.
Hold fast to Truth, illuminate all time and space—
let today become the fair footprint of yesterday’s grace;
let today create the possibilities of tomorrow’s embrace.
