What’s one thing you own that holds deep sentimental value?
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Everything we own has a price, except the things we would never sell. What if your most valuable possession is the one no buyer would ever want?
Today’s prompt asks for one thing I own that holds deep sentimental value. I have such a thing. I will not tell you what it is, and by the end I hope the reason will be clear.
1. Its value is invisible to everyone but me.
Put it on an auction table and no one would raise a hand. A dealer would glance at it and move on. Yet if my house were on fire, it is among the first things I would reach for. That gap between what the world would pay and what I would risk is the whole meaning of sentimental value. It is the only kind of worth that vanishes the moment it leaves its owner’s hands.
2. Naming it would invite the wrong question.
If I told you what it is, you would quietly do what all of us do: estimate. Is it old? Is it rare? What is it made of? These are fair questions about most possessions and entirely wrong ones about this one. The Roman jurists saw the problem long ago. A passage attributed to Paul in Justinian’s Digest holds that things are valued by common estimation, not by the affection of individuals.[1] The law must use a measure that can be shared; the heart has no such scale.
3. A treasure taken to market is always misread.
Tamil literature has an entire epic built around one object. In the Silappatikaram,[2] Kannagi gives one of her anklets to her husband Kovalan so they can rebuild a ruined life in Madurai. He takes it to be sold. A dishonest goldsmith, who had himself stolen the queen’s anklet, accuses Kovalan of the theft, and the king has him executed without inquiry. Kannagi storms into the royal court and breaks her remaining anklet open. Rubies spill out; the queen’s had held pearls. The truth had been inside the object all along. The market simply could not see it.
4. I do not really own it. It holds something of mine.
Ownership is an odd word here. I can sell my car, lend my books, give away my shirts. This one thing I could not part with without losing something that is not the thing at all: a person, a season of life, a lesson that arrived with it. In that sense, possession runs the other way. It keeps hold of a part of me I might otherwise forget.
5. Such objects are meant to be passed on, not hoarded.
When Elijah was taken up, his mantle fell, and Elisha picked it up and carried it to the banks of the Jordan (2 Kings 2:13–14). Its worth lay in who had worn it and in what it now asked of the one who wore it next.
In Japan, the practice known as katami-wake[3] offers a quieter parallel. After a death, often in connection with the memorial held on the forty-ninth day, the departed person’s belongings are given to relatives, and sometimes to close friends, as keepsakes. To me, this suggests that memory is meant to be carried forward by many hands rather than locked away.
These are two very different traditions with one conviction: a sentimental object is less a possession than a trust.
6. A fair objection: things can trap us.
There is a real danger here. Objects can become shrines to a past we refuse to leave. Some homes are crowded with keepsakes that comfort no one and burden everyone. The people who gave us these things would almost certainly rather be remembered in how we live than in what we keep in a drawer. The objection is right, and it is exactly why a keepsake must never be confused with the relationship it points to. The object is a doorway, not the room.
7. So what is it worth?
The honest answer is almost nothing, and that is why it is priceless. Its value was never in the material. It was borrowed from the people and the moments it carries. My task is not to guard it from the world but to live up to what it remembers. One day, like the mantle and the keepsake, it should pass into hands that will understand.
What do you own that no buyer would want, and whose story is kept inside it?
Notes for readers
[1] Digest of Justinian 35.2.63. The Digest is a sixth-century compilation of Roman legal writing; this passage is attributed to the jurist Julius Paulus.
[2] Silappatikaram (“The Tale of the Anklet”) is one of the five great epics of Tamil literature, attributed to the poet Ilango Adigal. Kannagi remains one of the most revered figures in Tamil culture.
[3] Katami-wake is the Japanese practice of distributing a deceased person’s belongings as keepsakes (katami), mainly among relatives and sometimes close friends. The distribution may take place in connection with the forty-ninth-day memorial, although practices vary. See the TKG Japanese-English Learner’s Dictionary, “形見 (かたみ),” and the iタウンページ guide to the forty-ninth-day memorial. Scholarly research on mortuary customs in the Ryukyu Islands provides additional regional context.
John Britto Kurusumuthu
Rise & Inspire · riseandinspire.co.in
In response to the WordPress Daily Writing Prompt, 29 October 2026: What’s one thing you own that holds deep sentimental value?
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*THE MINISTRY OF WISDOM – WISDOM FOR LEADERSHIP (AS A DIRECTOR / HEAD OF DEPARTMENT) – PART 2*
_Topic: WISDOM TO LEAD YOUR SUPERIOR (HOW TO MANAGE UPWARD WITHOUT LOSING HONOUR)_
_Proverbs 25:15 says, By long forbearing i a prince persuaded, and a soft tongue breaketh the bone._
_Romans 13:1 says, Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God._
Hear me, if Part 1 was how to lead those under you, Part 2 is how to lead those above you. Many Directors know how to command their juniors, but they don’t know how to manage their superiors. And that is why they are frustrated, bypassed, or punished.
To lead upward is not to manipulate your boss. It is to help your boss succeed, so that your department succeeds.
Here is the wisdom to manage your superiors:
*1. WISDOM HONOURS THE OFFICE, NOT JUST THE PERSON.*
You may not like your Permanent Secretary, your DG, your Minister. But wisdom honours the chair he sits on. Because God put that chair there before the man came. When you dishonour your superior openly, you are teaching your own juniors to dishonour you tomorrow. _1 Peter 2:18 says, Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward._ Greet him with respect. Stand when he enters. Don’t correct him before his visitors. Honour is a seed.
*2. WISDOM UNDERSTANDS THAT YOUR BOSS IS ALSO UNDER PRESSURE.*
That superior shouting at you may have just been shouted at by someone higher. Many HODs think their boss is wicked, but they don’t know the battle he is fighting above. Before you judge him, ask wisdom to see his burden. _Proverbs 20:5 says, Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out._ Instead of complaining about his pressure, help reduce it. Bring him solutions, not just problems.
*3. WISDOM SPEAKS TRUTH WITH THE LANGUAGE OF RESPECT.*
A foolish Director says, “Sir, you are wrong.” A wise Director says, “Sir, I may be missing something, but can we also consider this angle for the good of the work?” Same truth, different wisdom. You can tell the truth without losing your head. _Proverbs 16:21 says, The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning._ Learn to say “Yes Sir” first before you say “But Sir, can we…”
*4. WISDOM DOES NOT GOSSIP ABOUT YOUR SUPERIOR TO YOUR JUNIORS.*
This is where many HODs destroy themselves. You are angry with your boss, you now gather your staff and say, “That man doesn’t know anything.” Listen to me, the same staff you told will report you tomorrow. And heaven is recording. _Ecclesiastes 10:20 says, Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice._ If you have a grievance with your superior, take it to God, take it to him in private, not to your subordinates.
*5. WISDOM MAKES YOUR BOSS LOOK GOOD, NOT BAD.*
Your job as a Director is not to compete with your superior, but to complete him. When you go for a meeting together, don’t show that you know more than him to embarrass him. Let him shine. Prepare a good brief for him. Cover his gaps in private. _Genesis 39:5 says, The LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake._ When you make your boss succeed, God will make you succeed. Pharaoh promoted Joseph because Joseph made Pharaoh’s work succeed.
*6. WISDOM KNOWS WHEN TO SPEAK AND WHEN TO BE SILENT.*
Not every battle should be fought in the boardroom. Some meetings, wisdom says keep quiet, write a note, and see him later one-on-one. If you always oppose your boss in public, he will see you as a threat, not a partner. _Ecclesiastes 3:7 says, A time to keep silence, and a time to speak._ A word spoken at the right time is wisdom. The same word spoken at the wrong time is rebellion.
*7. WISDOM PRAYS FOR YOUR SUPERIOR, IT DOES NOT JUST COMPLAIN ABOUT HIM.*
Stop cursing the man you call boss. Pray for him. His good decision favours your department. His bad decision punishes your department. So your prayer for him is actually prayer for yourself. _1 Timothy 2:2 says, Pray for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life._ Every morning, before you enter that office, say “Lord, give my boss wisdom today. Let his heart be guided for good.”
*FINAL WORD FOR YOU AS A DIRECTOR:*
If you only know how to lead down, you will be a good supervisor. But if you know how to lead down AND lead up, you will become a great leader that the whole system trusts.
Don’t fight your superior. Support him, respect him, advise him with wisdom, and let God fight for you if he is unjust.
Because promotion does not come from your superior alone _Psalm 75:6-7 says, For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another._
*PRAYER FOR YOU:*
Father, in the name of Jesus, give every Director here wisdom to manage upward. Take away the spirit of competition and give them the spirit of completion. Give them a soft tongue that can persuade a prince. Let their wisdom speak for them in high places. And let their promotion come, not by flattery, but by God Himself, in Jesus mighty name Amen.