Pennies and People

Image Credit: Pixabay

Find a penny pick it up, the rest of the day, you’ll have good luck!

I know you’ve always heard some type of idiom about pennies: a penny for your thoughts · a penny saved is a penny earned · pennies from heaven…

Pennies, although the lowest denomination in currency is actually an artistic creation, the only coin currency made from copper. Whether burnished or bright, sparkling new or antique, pennies are getting a bad wrap and people are dismissing their incredible value and worth.

When I think about the unique qualities of a penny, I am reminded of how society has a tendency to look at marginalized members within our communities like lost pennies on the ground, walked over, ignored, stepped on, or flippantly discarded. All too often we watch and hear about how the disenfranchised are devalued simply based on how they look, where they come from, where they live, what they drive, what type of job they have, their economic level, their religion, or what level of education they have achieved.

Appearances and behaviors reveal that we value people based on what they give and how much they can afford. I sometimes feel like we are so programmed and disassociated from the value of worth, with pennies and people. If the penny is alleviated from the currency, do we then eliminate the number 1? Do we realize how much value each person uniquely gives to humankind and to the world? Without the penny, the value of larger denominations would not exist. We must understand how much the smaller, contributes to the larger.

Never underestimate the power, potential, the unique qualities, and value people and pennies contribute to the big picture.