Sunday
May162004
Overheard at the corner store this morning
Sunday, May 16, 2004 at 1:03PM
A man, holding a $5 bill, asked the cashier: "Can you break this into something smaller? I'm going to church this morning."
Reader Comments (5)
Well maybe the guy was unemployed.
Maybe. It gave me a laugh. Regardless of his financial situation, he seemed to equate church with small change.
The man might have been breaking the bill so that he could provide each of five children with something to put in the plate. My father gave us small bills when we were very young and received only a small allowance (25 or 50 cents per week) to impress on us the idea of giving to the church. To us, that was a huge sum, and giving that to the church impresssed on us its importance.
I suppose there are a million possibilities why a man might request small change for church. And, yes, for some people giving 25 cents is a huge sacrifice. But taking the statement at face value, there is a certain irony which caused me to question not him, but our collective approach to worship and generosity. It's one of those simple, innocent statements that gets me thinking.
*smile* I guess this would be fitting to post here: === A torn and ragged one-dollar bill discovered that it was about to be retired from circulation. As it slowly moved along the conveyor belt to the shredder, it became acquainted and struck up a conversation with a fifty-dollar bill that was meeting the same fate. The fifty began reminiscing about its travels all over thecountry. Life has been good," the fifty exclaimed. "Why, I've been to Las Vegas, the finest restaurants in New York, political fund raisers, and just returned from a cruise on the Caribbean." Gee," said the one-dollar bill, "you're fortunate to have been able to visit all those places." So where all have you been in your lifetime, my little friend," says the fifty?" "Well, I've been to : the Methodist Church, the Baptist Church, the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Lutheran Church, the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, the Assembly of God Church, the Brethren Church, the Quaker Church, the Pentecostal Church, the Charismatic Church, the Mennonite Church, the Church of Christ..." "Excuse me," says the fifty, "but what's a Church"?