Shiny pennies… Dirty quarters.

Where does your eye go first?  Do you reach for the shiny copper of the penny?  Or do you look past the glowing façade and reach for the dingy quarter?

Which has greater value to you?

I imagine that our world is split on these questions.  Some of society will not even think, and instinctively reach for the shiny, attractive, eye-catching penny.  Others will not even flinch before they reach for the greater value of the dirty quarter.

The difference lies in the eye of the beholder…

We all do it, c’mon admit it.  Our eyes cannot help themselves, as we are innately (initially) attracted to shine. 

But, if we take a minute… and take hold of our thoughts… which would you grab?  The shiny penny or the dirty quarter?

Jesus was not “shiny,” as we recognize the word today.  He was plain-clothed and simple in appearance.  He was not draped in riches.  He was a man, who shone in action rather than in the eye.  He was the “dirty quarter.”  Do our hearts reach for him first?  Do our eyes seek him before the shiny pennies?  We are always facing temptations that take our eyes off Jesus.  Even the word “Lucifer” translates to “the shining one.”  WTF!?!?

We remain distracted by shiny things, do we not?

Let us ponder:

Take shoes, as an example.  I love shoes. I could pine for the famous red underbelly of a Christian Louboutin pump with a heel higher than myself.  Or, I could see a comfy pair of Birkenstocks and reminisce of walking across my college campus in total comfort.

I am five-foot-nothing… the allure of a shiny Hollywood heel could make me feel ten-feet tall.  I would walk the aisles of the grocery store like I owned it.  I would feel immeasurable confidence as I reached for the top shelf items and took hold of them, tossing them into my cart like a fadeaway from LeBron.  Then, I would ultimately loose my balance, fall as if from a skyscraper, and break an ankle… $#!+!!!

OR, I can choose those trusty Birks… slide my feet in and somehow feel shorter than I already am.   I would not have a care, though.  I would feel stable and solid in my footing just enough to scale the shelves at the grocery store.  Yes, I have done it.  Unapologetically, I have climbed past the boxes of pasta just as Spiderman scales a building.  Sure-footed and fast. I am in my Birkenstocks, after all.  I can fling open a freezer door, hop my full body into it, and reach that riced cauliflower that is ALL THE WAY to the back on that top shelf (and in need of restocking, WTF?!).  Way more action in this choice, without a trip to the ER.

Then, there are the shiny cars… we notice a “little red corvette” (if you do not understand this reference, then we cannot be friends) more than we notice a little sedan.  The gas mileage is better in that sedan, though.  It may not go as fast, but it’ll get you there.  Sure, a ‘vette will get you there too… but, ultimately you’ll get pulled over. That little sedan with car seats in the back will sail past you and those flashing lights all the way to the winner’s circle.

I think that this dilemma may begin in our childhood.  For example, take Christmas…would we first reach for the gift from grandma wrapped in the comics?  Or would we pull from the pile the famous in-store, wrapped gift?  Are you the grown up that remembers the gift from the store?  Or do you recall and smile the way your elderly grandmother would take the newspaper comics and adorn her gift to you?

We even choose our political candidates this way.  The shinier, the more Hollywood-favored candidate draws the most attention.  The more flamboyant, the biggest smile, the most-popular of endorsements… even the whitest teeth. They are the shiny penny; and that penny will only afford you a wish in a fountain.  I do love a wishing in a fountain, however… and I reserve my shiny pennies for that. 

When the dirty quarter gets elected, the shiny-penny-lovin’ media goes nuts and loses their perspective on its value.  I will stop there with the political analogy, as I think the nickels and dimes are the real winners here.

Alas, we all do.  Since we grow in wisdom through our experiences, we are mostly under-qualified to vote on any coin at all.  At eighteen, we see value as a shiny, copper penny… while at forty-eight, we see the value of a dirty quarter.

 But my money is on Jesus (and his Birkenstocks) every…single…time. 

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”

Hebrews 12:2

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