Annie Dillard, in her wonderful Pulitzer Prize winning book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, tells a story about pennies. It was in her chapter entitled “Seeing” that I read her wonderful childhood story. I will let her tell it in her own words: “When I was six or seven years old, growing up in Pittsburgh, I used to take a precious penny of my own and hide it for someone else to find. It was a curious compulsion; sadly, I’ve never been seized by it since. For some reason I always ‘hid’ the penny along the same stretch of sidewalk up the street. I would cradle it at the roots of a sycamore, say, or in a hole left by a chipped-off piece of sidewalk. Then I would take a piece of chalk, and, starting at either end of the block, draw huge arrows leading up to the penny from both directions. After I learned to write I labeled the arrows: SURPRISE AHEAD or MONEY THIS WAY. I was greatly excited, during all this arrow-drawing, at the thought of the first lucky passer-by who would receive in this way, regardless of merit, a free gift from the universe. But I never lurked about. I would go straight home and not give the matter another thought, until, some months later, I would be gripped again by the impulse to hide another penny.”
She goes on to say, “It is still the first week in January, and I’ve got great plans. I’ve been thinking about seeing. There are lots of things to see, unwrapped gifts and free surprises. The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But — and this is the point — who gets excited by a mere penny? If you follow one arrow, if you crouch motionless on a bank to watch a tremulous ripple thrill on the water and are rewarded by the sight of a muskrat kit paddling from its den, will you count that sight a chip of copper only, and go your rueful way? It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won’t stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a life-time of days. It is that simple. What you see is what you get.”
I want us to think about pennies today. I want us to think about seeing things that have been “cast broadside from a generous hand” — these “free gifts from the universe.” So much has been hidden from us only because we failed to follow the arrows. God has hidden wonderful surprises everywhere, but you have to search and follow the arrows. You have to want to see. The gifts of God are only for those who can recognize their value. “What you see is what you get,” as Annie says. You have to have the eyes of a child who still sees with wonder. Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure’” (Matthew 11:25-26).
Elizabeth Barrett Browning put it so beautifully when she wrote:
Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush aflame with God.
But only those who see take off their shoes:
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.
What all of this is saying is, first of all, that looking for pennies is important because: The created world is a window into the heart of God. If you want to know what God is like, look for the arrows. There are things all around us which are pointing to the deep and wonderful personality of our glorious God. His mysteries are great, but he is fond of revealing them to those who want to see. In the smallest things there are profound wonders which could occupy our minds for decades: how a tree draws life from the ground in order to grow and create leaves which drink sunshine and give the tree its life; how a flower has color, texture and fragrance; how a child develops in a mother’s womb — complete with fingers, heart and circulatory system, and a intricate and complex brain that no computer could begin to match. But we have things like the new Easton Mall which make things like rocks and leaves seem insignificant, and yet, a single leaf is more complex than all the malls of Columbus put together. We can build a mall, but we cannot create a single leaf — or even one cell of a leaf.
I enjoy white water canoeing. One of the things that I tell someone who has not gone canoeing on a river before is to look for the arrows and they will show you the way. Arrows are created in the water when water builds up and rushes between two rocks, or other barriers. As the water flows through the rocks it does so in the shape of an arrow which helps you to know where the deep water is and where to avoid obstacles. There are arrows all around us in nature which point to the deep places in life, whether it is a tree pointing to God or an infant’s face which reveals his smile.
The world of nature is where we find God looking back at us. The Psalmist said, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun” (Psalm 19:1-4). That is why Paul could say, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).
How is it that there are not more who see? The Lord spoke to the prophet Ezekiel and said, “Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people” (Ezekiel 12:2). The apostle Paul wrote of the same blinding condition of those who refuse to see because of their own obstinance. He said, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear” (Romans 11:8).
Pity those who look at the world and cannot see God. Pity those who can only complain about life and see no good in it. Pray for those who can see so clearly what is wrong and are blind to what is right.
I tell you, I want to be one of those who see into the face of God. I don’t want to miss the arrows pointing to his heart and mind. I don’t want to look at something and overlook its value, discarding it as some would a penny. I want to see the value of life in everything I touch and experience. I want to see God smiling. I want to hear him laughing. I want to hear his whispers of love to me through the world around me. I want to enjoy the life that God has given me. I don’t want to miss the “unwrapped gifts and free surprises” placed here by a “generous hand.” The world is indeed planted in pennies, and all we have to do is follow the arrows to find them. We often look for God in spectacular events and miss him in the simple places. Sometimes you have to get up at 5:00 in the morning to see arrows shooting through the sky like this morning meteor shower.
The second reason that looking for pennies is important is: The created world provides opportunities to praise the goodness of God. If we begin to look at every plant as a miracle, then we will never lack things for which to praise the living God. If we are astonished at an insect, and confounded by bee hives and spider webs, we will come closer to true worship than if God were to literally speak from the heavens. We will stop asking why God doesn’t show himself, because we will begin to see him everywhere. We will experience him in the world he has made. We will be astounded by his skill and the power of his might. His glory will shine through to our eyes which have been opened to see his greatness. Our hearts will be full of praise for a God who is so good.
That was the experience of David who wrote the 8th Psalm. As a young shepherd he had spent many nights out under the stars. Many thoughts went through his mind as he pondered the mystery of the universe. He cried out, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:1-4). As you know, the Psalms are songs — songs of praise to God — and one of the things you begin to see as you read the Psalms is that the writers never thank God for their “stuff.” They praise God for who he is. They thank him for the wonders of the natural world. They see him in the sunrise and praise him for the grain. Everywhere they look they see his greatness. They say, “Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary” (Psalm 96:6).
David wrote in the Psalms: “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits — who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (Psalm 103:2-5). There are so many things for which we can praise God: Our families, our health, our world, our nation, our forgiveness and salvation, and the promise of eternity. What a gracious God we serve that he would forgive our sins and want to bring us into an intimate relationship with himself! When I see people on TV jumping up and down after winning cash prizes or a new car, and see others who have so little appetite or excitement for the things of God, I know that something is terribly wrong. If you are more exuberant over material things than you are the fact that Jesus Christ came to save your unworthy soul, then you have missed out on what life is all about. When we understand that God has loved us and placed us in a wonderful world, and taken our sins away, the only appropriate response is praise, worship and love for a gracious God.
The third reason that looking for pennies is important is: The created world is a source of joy for thankful hearts. The Bible says, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” (Colossians 2:6-7).
However, some might question the appropriateness of joy because of what happened on September 11. So many lives were lost. So many are grieving. So many are without husband, wife, father or mother. Careers and jobs were lost. And with the crash of American Airlines flight 587 in a New York neighborhood, already grieving over many of their former residents who were lost in the terrorist attack, they wonder if it is right to feel good in the midst of all this tragedy.
Sorrow and grieving are a necessary part of life. It would be inappropriate not to grieve and feel genuine empathy with those who have lost so much and whose lives will never be the same. You cannot sidestep grief. You cannot postpone it and put on a happy face as though all is well. But neither can we stay at this place of grief and pain. Our lives are grounded in a greater reality than temporary tragedy. We serve the Lord Jesus Christ who has overcome the world and triumphed over death and evil. He has said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
I was reading on the New York Times internet site the profiles of some of the people who were lost in the September 11 attack. One was about Matthew Blake Wallens, a young man who was senior vice president at Cantor Fitzgerald. His profile, in part, read like this: “When Matthew Blake Wallens had lunch at his favorite pizza place with his wife, Raina Wallens, it was his habit to turn to her when she was finished. ‘He would say, “That was fun, wasn’t it?”’ Mrs. Wallens recalled. ‘I would say, “Yeah.” And he would say, “That is what we do, we have fun.”’ That was the spirit Mr. Wallens, 31, created wherever he went, no matter what he did. ‘So when he fell in the mud, it was the greatest mud in the world,’ said his father, Dr. Donald Wallens. ‘He found something to grab hold of in all life’s experiences,’ Dr. Wallens said.” The article goes on to say that his “contagious enthusiasm made his clients look forward to his calls, knowing he could make a bad day good and a good day better.”
That is the kind of triumphal spirit that the people of God should have. The world around us is filled with wonders that should create within us grateful hearts. Even when we fall in the mud, it is the greatest mud in the world. A grateful heart turns pizza into fun; it turns pennies into dollars; it turns the ordinary into extraordinary gifts from a benevolent God; it sees blessings everywhere and experiences joy at a profound level. The source of that joy is beyond ourselves. It is a gift from a generous hand — the one who said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11). May the source of joy give you a grateful heart so that you do not miss the pennies he has scattered abroad. What you see is what you get.
Rodney J. Buchanan
November 18, 2001
Mulberry Street UMC
Mt. Vernon, OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION (November 18, 2001)
1. On a scale of 1 – 10, with 1 being none and 10 being the most, how positive are you in your outlook on life?
2. What are some of the wonderful little things in life many people often overlook?
3. Read Ephesians 5:19-20. According to this verse how often should we express our thanks to God?
4. What are some of the things you notice in the world that speak to you about the nature of God? What do these observations do for you?
5. Thinking of Annie Dillard’s childhood story, what parallel did she draw between what she had done and what God does?
6. What is the opposite of gratitude? How can we avoid this attitude in our lives?
7. Read Psalm 103:1. Why is it important to praise God?
8. Read John 15:11. Why does God want us to have joy?
9. Read Psalm 8. What does the created world tell you about God’s attitude toward us?
10. How will you live in gratefulness this week?
