A parable: 4 copper coins

I know the fare of late has been lighthearted. I hope that doesn't trouble you. The things of this world have made my head swim of late. I'm sure I'll address them again before too long.

Nothing like a parable to clear up clouded eyes. So here we go.

One evening, the story goes, a button of a beauty with eyes as black as her pig-tails attended a concert at her daddy’s side, an Irish concert with fiddle and accordion, guitars and penny-whistles. It was like nothing she’d ever heard.

A little past four years old and three feet high, she stood on the floor craning her neck to improve her vantage while all those around her remained seated. Her tiny hand clutched two pennies. The performers purposed to glorify God with their music, and so they did. They traveled to minister, putting food on the table through the offerings of those who appreciated their music. The waif was eager to give them her two cents before she’d ever heard a note.

The music started. Its radiance matched the joy of those making it, and like a delicious contagion, it evoked delight from its hearers. From the little girl broke a smile typically offered only to her mama.

As the melodies frolicked, her face beamed even brighter, and she bent down for her canvas purse, the one with Eeyore silk-screened to its side. After climbing upon her chair with feet dangling far from the floor, she withdrew an expended Altoids can. Inside? Her treasure. She opened it up and pulled out another penny, the third.

Song followed song from mad to mellow and back again as the little girl’s dimples dug deeper and her eyes twinkled brighter. Again she plunged into her pixie purse and extracted the magic tin. One more penny to give for the pleasure that touched her soul.

When the offering plate came around, she lavished it with her four copper coins, bursting with joy that she could give some of what she possessed to those who had given her so very much. They would never know what she gave; that never crossed her mind. She did not seek their affection or their approval. She gave out of gratitude-soaked love.

While her daddy savored the sweet sounds of those anointed musicians, that richness paled in comparison with the oceanic outpouring of love from so precious a pint-sized container. He slid his hand around her shoulder and gave a squeeze.

Oh, to be a dad.