Nov 26

Helen Tyte

Pennies

The edge of a USA penny coin with the words In God We Trust.

A man and his wife were invited to spend the weekend at the husband’s employer’s home. The wife was nervous about the weekend because the boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterfront, and cars costing more than her house.

The first day and evening went well. The husband’s employer was a generous host, and took them to the finest restaurants.

As they were about to enter an exclusive restaurant on the second evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of the woman and her husband. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.

The wife also looked down, but saw nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny.

He looked at it carefully, then put it in his pocket and smiled broadly, as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?

Throughout dinner, this nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She told the man that her daughter had once collected coins, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.

A smile crept across the man’s face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see.

“Look at it.” He said. “Read what it says.”

“It says ’one cent’” said the lady.

“Look again,” said the man.

“United States of America?” she replied.

“Take a closer look…..’ he said.

“IN GOD WE TRUST.”

“And,” said the man, “I trust in God, His name is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I pick up a coin I think that God has dropped a message right in front of me reminding me to trust Him. Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God’s way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!