Have you ever heard about “pennies from heaven?” According to some superstitious theory, if you see a penny lying on the ground, it could be from a loved one who has died and is trying to communicate with you. Well, if any of my family members are trying to talk to me from heaven, I wish they’d do it with $1000 bills instead of pennies.
A penny just isn’t worth much these days.
I used to pick them up when I saw them lying on the ground (especially when I was a single mom trying to feed five kids). I’d feel a little self-conscious as I bent to snatch it from the pavement. I’d wonder if what my kids said about heads or tails-up mattered, and I tried to divorce the mother-voice in my mind that warned me about germs swarming all over it, as if those coins already in my wallet were significantly cleaner.
So, putting aside the thought that dead people are trying to get my attention, why do I see pennies on the ground frequently? Am I just a lucky person following careless people who drop change in parking lots? Is there some meteorological phenomena that rains pennies instead of cats and dogs?
I think perhaps pennies on the pavement are a bit like rainbows in the sky. Rainbows remind me of God’s promise that He would never again destroy the world by flood. When I spot a penny lying in my path, I think of God’s blessings in my life. Some of them have been small, unexpected surprises, not worth a lot in the grand scheme of life, but reminders of His presence and His interest in me. A penny on the ground encourages me to thank Him when I find a convenient parking spot, or the elevator doors open just as I walk up, or a traffic light turns green at just the right moment. It’s these little things of life which we can never explain that are the real “pennies from heaven.” They add up to a lifetime of treasured moments with God.
