16 cents can buy something
In this time of economic turmoil and distress, what can you buy for 16 cents?
With gasoline hitting $3.50 a gallon ‘ and likely $4 before summer’s end ‘ and with surging food prices and the cost of a first-class postage stamp poised for yet another hike, the combination of a dime, a nickel and a penny would seem to be financially irrelevant. But children, innocent of sophisticated economic theory, teach us otherwise.
One of my policyholders treated his wife and young son to an April weekend outing in the Great Smoky Mountains. As they were leaving, a cellphone call informed them their house had been heavily damaged by fire early that morning. The North Warren Volunteer Fire Department saved their home from total destruction, but loss of contents and the use of the house for several months are an emotional shock to any family.
My company is taking care of the material loss, but how can an insurance policy deal with the emotional stress and dislocation caused by such a traumatic event? Fortunately, there’s a reality beyond the merely economic.
Due to confidentiality restrictions, I cannot directly identify my policyholders, but I have their permission to note their son is a straight-A second-grader at Bobby Ray Memorial Elementary. His name is Jeffrey, but some of his fellow pupils call him Jeffy.
When news reached his school that Jeffrey was forced out of his home by fire, and the family was left with only the clothes and personal items they had packed for their weekend vacation, Bobby Ray teachers bought clothes and other supplies for Jeffy. Members of North Warren VFD gathered up toys for the bewildered child to console him during the period of turmoil.
But the support was far from depleted. When Jeffy was ready to be picked up by his parents after classes recessed Tuesday following the weekend blaze, his father remained in the car while his mother was asked to visit the school office. The dad looked up to see Jeffy’s classmates walking single-file, each carrying two bags of toys, clothes and other needs.
Many of the children penned notes expressing heartfelt sympathy and offering support. One of the notes reminded me of the event when Jesus and some of his disciples were watching as people representing vastly disparate economic situations were presenting their tithes and offerings at the temple collection. ‘And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins.
‘And He said, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all out of their surplus put into the offering, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on.’ (Luke 21:1-4, NASV. See also Mark 12:42-43)
Of the many acts of kindness, one that especially caught my attention was the response from a 3-year-old friend of Jeffrey’s. ‘Hay Jeffy,’ the note began. ‘I sorry your home burnt down. I give you as much stuff as I can.’
When the note was delivered to Jeffrey it was explained the 3-year-old girl didn’t have much to give, but she was giving it all. Enclosed with the note were three coins ‘ a dime, a nickel and a penny.
The young donor turned out to be Danika Reno, daughter of Donna Reno, an employee of Myers Communication. In giving ‘all that she had,’ Danika reminds us of the power of self-sacrificing love and compassion, just as Jesus taught 2000 years ago. Despite all of the changes in the material world, that ethical verity remains constant. So what can you buy for 16 cents? A mansion in the moral universe, and a lot more.
Bill Zechman is a State Farm insurance agent and member of the Warren County Commission.