The value of the lost coin

The bible records Jesus telling a story of a woman, who looses one of her ten coins. While I believe the story is about redemption, it does make me wonder about our monetary value system. If I were to loose a penny, how much effort would I put into looking for it. I mean, it is "just a penny". Truth be told though, if the penny represented a tenth of my earnings, the story would be different.

Sometimes,  I use this principle as a measure of wealth and comfort (yes, it could also be a measure of carelessness and wastefulness). The idea is to determine the value of the coin, that one could afford to loose, without loosing sleep (again, fully aware that some people would loose sleep over any amount, irrespective of how wealthy they are).

It is worth taking a moment to think about what this value would be for different people around the world.

• The homeless guy, sleeping rough on the high street
• The till worker on high street shop
• The shop manager
• The CEO of the high street chain
• The farmer in drought stricken Sudan 
• The average family man in war torn Syria

If one may take it a step further, try to consider what impact the value of your seemingly worthless coin might have on other people in the world. Could it be significant or life changing for someone else? If what is insignificant to us, could be life changing to others, what could we do with it? Perhaps, a monthly drop of groceries at the community food bank or an occasional coffee for the guy sleeping rough. Maybe, if we think long enough about our coin, we might find a way to make someone's life better.