The Coin Woman
may remind you of yourself. She’s who you were when losing five dollars was a big deal.
“Suppose a woman has ten silver coins,” Jesus says, “and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’”
The missing silver coin, or drachma, would be worth something like five dollars, but that was about a day’s wage. And when you’re getting by one day at a time, that’s a big loss.
What strikes us in the little three-verse parable is the frantic search, the “sweeping,” pulling out the sofa, dumping out the miscellaneous drawers. And then the joy—the shriek of delight. We can remember frenzied searches like that, though it’s been a while since we had that feeling.
When we were in seminary, I was walking the kids home from preschool when one of my daughters spotted some money in a storm drain. I looked and saw a twenty-dollar bill lying in the mud. Twenty dollars! We were so poor we were on WIC food stamps. But there was a grate over the drain and we couldn’t reach the bill. Finally I found a stick, and for about twenty minutes I clawed at Andrew Jackson’s stoic face until I could drag him up the side of the drain. When we finally had that wet bill in our hands we were like pirates who had found the buried treasure. That night we could afford to go out for dinner. Out for dinner!
After a few years we all tell stories of deep, delicious joy when “we didn’t have two dimes to rub together.” When we don’t have much, it doesn’t take much to make us feel like pirates with the treasure box. As we get more and more, it takes more and more. No matter what you have today, live as if there is a lost coin somewhere in your house and start sweeping. Look for the smallest thing. When the sun comes up, pretend that you are watching God create the world. When someone pours you a cup of hot coffee, stifle a shriek of joy. When a loved one walks by, reach out and brush their face as if the Lord is walking by in the Garden of Eden.
COMPANIONS ON THE WAY
Introduction
Stories of Turning
Week One
Stories of Wild Places
Week Two
Stories of Dogged Faith
Week Three
Stories of Mercy & Forgiveness
Week Four
Stories of Simplicity & Joy
Week Five
Stories of Prayer & Surrender
Week Six
Stories of Transforming Love
Having eyes to see the value in what seems too small or trivial is a blessing. Thanks, David
David, thanks for this.
Kay and I were on WIC too. While in seminary! So we do recall how little things could bring us joy.
Thanks for helping us revisit those days and return with their wisdom.
Thank you for this insight, David. It came at a time when I needed new lenses and I appreciate the perspective.
Good luck with the new lenses! (It takes a while to adjust)