The Lord is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9b

This is a story about a single penny. Now you may have some doubts about this, but read on.

In the parable of the lost coin (Luke 15:8-9) we read, "If a woman has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does she not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!' "

For some time now, when I take my walk, I find a penny, just a penny -- not two pennies, not three pennies, just a penny. Since I vary the paths that I follow, the penny appears in different places, along the sidewalk, in a parking lot, in the street alongside a curb. Now a penny a day will never have an effect upon my lifestyle, but it is a nice feeling when I find it. Sort of meeting a friend you haven't seen in a long time. Sometimes I think, "Lord, how about a certificate for a cup of coffee at Starbucks?" But it doesn't happen. What is the Lord telling me?

Many other people walk the same path as I do. Why do I find the penny and they don't? Why do they stride right past, not seeing the good in the world? Is it because I am looking for it and they are not? Is this what happens when we fail to see the need in the world and the opportunities for doing good. Do we have to look carefully to find the way of the Lord, or is it the Lord who points out the way?

Lately I have begun wondering if the Lord is playing some kind of scavenger hunt with me. Does a bright shining penny, lying on the sidewalk and easy to see, mean that I am walking in the Lord's way? An old, beat-up penny, lying in the parking lot, dark, run over a couple of times by cars and trucks, hard to see - does this mean the Lord is not happy with my direction?

Every day, we face choices, some good, some not so good, some really bad. How do we know we are making the right choices? The best I can offer is to just keeping walking and looking for those "pennies from Heaven."

Lead me, guide me along the way,
For if you lead me I cannot stray.
Lord let me walk each day with Thee.
Lead me, oh Lord lead me.

Contributed by Rosemary and Joseph S.
Sunday November 26, 2006
Liturgical Year B Week 53