On the Minister's Mind

by Rev. Laine Morgan

Did you hear last week that the US Mint made the decision to stop making the penny?  I am sure there were many factors involved including the reality that it cost more to produce a penny than its value, and that most of us no longer make cash transactions.  If I were to guess, most pennies in circulation are either lost underneath sofa cushions, saved in coin collections, or sitting in various shaped jars, banks and containers in our homes.  I don’t think I even have any coins in my wallet, do you?

So, why did it take so long to make this move?  We really don’t like “change”, do we?  We prefer that our systems stay the same and continue to operate the way they always have, even if it no longer makes good sense! (cents)

As I love metaphors and analogies, this one is packed with lessons!  First of all, what are the “pennies” in your life? In other words, what do you continue to circulate in your world that have lost their value, but are simply habitual and routine?  Perhaps you have old ideas about yourself or others, or maybe beliefs you have outgrown but still show up like a bad penny every now and then in your choices.  Maybe your closet is full of clothes that no longer fit your current identity, or your garage full of athletic gear you no longer use.  We all have these kinds of things, but it takes mindfulness to make the changes necessary to bring ourselves and our belongings into our current moment of functioning.

Aristotle taught us that the universe abhors a vacuum. What that means is that when we clear away outdated structures, habits, belongings, beliefs and even coins, nature will fill that vacuum with new energy and forms that better match who we are now. 

As the penny slowly fades into history as the last of them are used in transactions, the country more fully embraces the way we pay for things now - with pieces of numbered plastic cards, or even our phones.  We all get more current as we use what is truly “currency.”  It is always changing.

In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu said “When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”  Let’s let go of the symbolic pennies of our existence and rise to at least nickels, okay?  That’s what this summer is all about!

Penny for your thoughts?