Today is Siblings Day, and my thoughts turn to my sister. Her caregivers, co-workers, and housemates know her as “Kim.” I will always know her as “Kimmy.”
Kimmy has lived her entire life with significant intellectual disabilities. Diagnosed very early with “autism” and “severe mental retardation” (society wasn’t as sensitive or politically correct in its vocabulary in the 1970s), Kimmy can’t do what most of us take for granted.
She can’t read or write. She doesn’t carry on conversations. She knows only a few words—many of them hard to understand. She tends to not pronounce consonants well and can leave off key syllables. She has no formal education, no career, no social media profile. She doesn’t follow politics, can’t weigh in on cultural debates, and doesn’t understand philosophy or religion.
She doesn’t support anyone financially. She hasn’t accomplished anything that will land her in the Guinness Book of World Records or any of our history books. Probably never will.
And yet—her life has value.
On this point, I am passionate and inflexible.
Of course, that statement about her life having value makes no sense in a reality in which (as the late Carl Sagan put it), “the cosmos is all that there is, was, or ever will be.” In such a world, nothing really has intrinsic value.
What’s more, in a world in which everything comes down to money or power, my sentiments make no sense. None whatsoever, in fact. If anything, Kimmy is a drain on resources. She’s one hundred percent in the “consumer” or “recipient” category. But…
I stand by my statement.
One reason is admittedly for self-serving reasons. If Kimmy has no value, then… well, I don’t want to even contemplate those ramifications. But it’s more than that. If people like Kimmy have no value because they offer nothing of monetary, market, or utilitarian value to others, then guess what we are measured by!
If a person’s value is measured exclusively or primarily by what they can bring to the table, then… what happens when you and I can’t bring anything to the table?
Of course, Kimmy has personality, uniqueness, and personal depth. She loves looking at pictures, listening to music, and watching children’s programs on TV. She loves McDonald’s hamburgers, chocolate milkshakes, Reese’s Peanut Butter cups (can’t blame her on that!), soup, and water (I should take a lesson from her on that one).
She likes to take walks. She enjoys going on trips. She enjoys visits from Jane and me.
She also shows signs (in her own way) of love, concern, and compassion. When she and her housemates take the bus to their special workplace (it’s a program for special needs adults), she makes sure everyone gets off the bus before she goes in.
It’s not like Kimmy is an empty vessel. She can be fun and wonderful. But…
We live in a world that measures worth by performance, achievement, and popularity. Often at scale.
To be clear, I’m not indicting business contracts or employment arrangements. It’s understandable — and inevitable — that companies will pay employees based on the value of what those employees bring to the company’s bottom line.
There is such a thing as market value when it comes to employment, products, services, real estate, the stock market, and so on. That’s all fine, except…
When people start assigning personal value based on these things, problems ensue. And that happens more than we think. We do it to ourselves, and we do it to others.
It’s often subtle. Look at obituaries. What do they often lead with? The person’s occupation. What do they often end with? The person’s family. That says something–at the very least about how society prioritizes professional status over family and relationships.
If the standard of measuring a person’s overall value and worth comes down to how much money they make (or make for others) and/or how popular or influential they are, then where does that leave people like my sister? Where does that leave the unborn, the elderly, the disabled, or the forgotten?
It goes deeper than that.
If all of life is to be measured like that, then history will be nothing but power plays over people and resources. If you sense that comes close to looking like real history, you’re right. Why?
Because it’s human nature!
Human nature is to evaluate the worth and value of the people around us based on how much value they bring to us! That means we like others (or not) based on how they help us or make us feel.
Before long, we’re into power grabs and selfish maneuvering — at varying degrees of scale.
Yep, that’s the brutal reality of human nature if we follow our passions and desires with no restraint and if we retain an improper perspective on the meaning and value of life.
Thankfully, we have people in this world like my sister to give us pause. People like Kimmy challenge us to rethink all of that.
Kimmy doesn’t have value because of what she can give. Kimmy has value because of who she is!
Of course, that statement only makes sense if truth is objective (instead of relative) and if there is a Creator to give us meaning. That leads us to…
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” – Genesis 1:27 (KJV)
That verse means every human life—regardless of ability, intellect, productivity, or awareness—is sacred. Not because of what we do, but because of Who made us.
My sister’s value doesn’t come from money or power. It comes from being made in the image of God. Period.
That doesn’t just apply to my sister. It applies to you and me also. After all, it was Jesus who said:
“Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.” – Luke 12:6–7 (KJV)
Kimmy’s life has value. So does yours. So does mine. And so does every single life—born or unborn, visible or unseen, celebrated or overlooked.
Truth isn’t about one’s feelings, but let me assure you my feelings run deep on this point. I value everyone’s human life, which is why I condemn racism, oppose abortion, wrote my recent short book about the Sixth Commandment, and routinely call for more love and less hate.
On this Siblings Day, I’m thankful for my sister. And I’m thankful for the reminder she gives me: Every life matters. Every person is sacred. Because every one of us is made in our Creator’s image.
Thank you for Reading!
🙏 Be sure to visit Olney Baptist Church
👥 Follow me on Facebook
📕 See my Resource & Recommendation Page
📖 Check out my latest book: Thou Shalt Not Kill: The Ancient Commandment We Dare Not Break
📢 Connect with me on Substack
