Pennies From Heaven

I stopped at a convenience store on my way home from a trip recently, and I walked in to find that there were four people already in line. I took my place in the queue just as the man at the counter was handed his change. He turned to go, depositing the coins in his jeans pocket as he walked away. One, however missed the intended fabric compartment, and fell to the floor.

Each of us in line followed the bouncing coin with our eyes, seeing it come to a spinning halt just in front of the counter.  The man who dropped it took a step back and looked downward until he spotted the wayward money, but with a slight shrug of his shoulders, chose to leave it where it was and continue on his way.

The gentleman behind him stepped up to the counter, also ignoring the fallen coin. As he stepped away after having been served, I was able to see that it was not a silver coin that had fallen, but a penny. Just as the next lady stepped on it.  When the lady in front of me moved forward, she took care not to step on the abandoned coin, but over it.

As I approached and placed my goods on the counter, I looked down at the coin.  My back, aching from the long drive, reminded me that the floor was a long way down and told me to leave it, just like the rest had.

But my heart told me differently, for when I looked down at that penny, I noticed it had landed on “heads.” And instead of seeing the face of our past president, I saw the face of others who had been thrown out, stepped on and disregarded as worthless.

I stooped down to pick up the coin, despite the protest from my lumbar region. Although once I did it, the stretch felt good. It had appeared to be an old, dirty penny but upon getting a closer look, I saw it was minted just over 20 years ago. The date was hard to read however, for this penny was worn; the embossed date and Lincoln’s profile were almost smooth, and the copper covering bore the scratches and marks of being handled roughly.

I closed my fist around that coin, and I considered, You were thought worthless. Thrown out and disregarded. But you have worth. You are worth today the exact value placed on you by your maker.

It was about that time that I realized the cashier was handing me my own change, which I took and placed in my own pocket. I left the store still clutching the penny.

As I drove home, I wondered how many coins we step over every day—the homeless man on the corner; the socially awkward woman in our group; the annoying kid on the playground. Are we so busy and self-absorbed that we cannot be bothered?  Do we value them so little that we are not willing to reach out and lend a hand? Is our schedule so rigid that it cannot be bent?  We should try it sometime. We might find that actually, the stretch feels good.

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. –Matt 25:40 

Several years ago, my sister-in-law gave me one of those battery operated coin sorters. You drop a handful of change in the top, and it places the coins in the paper sleeves at the bottom. I emptied my pockets when I got home and let the little machine do its thing. During the process, the penny wrapper became full, and so I removed it from the machine and folded down the paper end. I then took the roll, which contained my convenience store friend along with 49 others, and dropped it into a basket where I keep all my rolled coins.

It is a large basket, and there were lots of different colored coin rolls in it. But I noticed several red sleeves emblazoned with “50 CENTS” and so I started to take them out and line them up on the floor. There were 20 rolls of pennies, totaling $10.

I thought about my convenience store penny. There’s not a lot you can buy with one cent today. Those people stepped over it because they didn’t think it had anything of value to contribute. But that penny—that one cent—when placed among others and wrapped together, has considerable value.

The total of all the coins in that basket added up to $265. That is a significant amount of money. Each coin on its own may not seem like much, even the dimes and quarters. But when all the denominations are placed together their value increases.

So maybe you’ll think twice about stepping over that forgotten penny next time. Maybe you will look past the dirt and the scratches and see its real value.

Or maybe you are the penny. You feel alone, abandoned and stepped over. You feel or have been told you are worthless. Not so! Every penny counts! You do have value! You have the exact same value placed on you by your Maker.  I encourage you to not sit at the curb and watch life pass by; get involved in your local church. Get connected to a small group. Get wrapped up with others, and watch how significantly the value increases with your contribution.

That’s my two cents.

For what it’s worth.