♪I was first introduced to the sonnets of John Milton in college. One in particular, no. 19, “On His Blindness,” has stuck with me. In it, Milton reflects on the question of his value to God as a writer now that he is going blind. He ends by observing that a king with thousands of servants rushing about doing his bidding is equally served by others who stand by, waiting.

♪Extrinsic value matters because we want our life and work to mean something. We want influence and respect, and to have the capacity to do things we consider important. But this kind of value often conflicts with our intrinsic value—the worth we have just because we are human, made in God’s image.