Me: Don’t worry about it (as I look behind me and see six people in line and only one register open).
Clerk: But, I owe you two pennies.
Me (with a look of kind assurance): No, really, don’t worry about it.
I know that I’ve lost or hoarded my fair share of those little copper circles. I have some in my change box. I’ve sucked unknown quantities up in the vacuum cleaner. I’ve also dismissed them as insignificant and have let a store add them to their coffers. I suspect that I’m not alone in my undervalued estimate of power of pennies.
When the boys were little we saved loose change; including pennies throughout the year. Whatever change they were able to save was their “free spending money.” Every summer, a week or so before we left for our annual beach trip, we’d spend hours rolling coins. I guess what we were really doing was getting them ready to be returned to circulation. When we first started rolling the coins, it never seemed like there would be enough to split three ways; but it never failed that each one usually pocketed $35-$40 for their trip. The coin box never looked like much, but it always ended up being something more than what was expected.
Have you ever considered what the life of a penny would feel like? Stop and think about it for a minute. Pennies are dropped, sucked up, run over, ignored, flattened in token machines, tossed into a forgotten boxes, thrown away and some are even dropped into slot machines in hopes that something bigger will be gained.
There are times in life when we are a penny; ignored, flattened, tossed, smashed and forgotten. But, unlike pennies, we are returned to circulation through the redemptive grace of God.
Find a penny. Pick it up. Spend it. Put it back into circulation and remember the goodness of God’s grace in our lives.
