My dear friend who lives on the other side of our large planet lost a diamond. The big, expensive — not to mention sparkly — one she was given the night she was engaged. (This happened to me to me hours before walking down the isle. Very sick feeling. Thankfully we found it in the sink drain of the hotel where my family lodged.) Well, my friend is a missionary in China. When we talk about treasured possessions we usually mean things unseen and intangible. And those things far outweigh the need for jewelry and the like. And the cost and loveliness of the diamond is nothing to the union it symbolizes. But still, even replacing it with a new diamond is not the same. I can’t quite explain that one. When she emailed me recently to say she found it, I was reminded of a clever bunch of words and music by Andrew Peterson, about the lost coin.
Loose Change | Andrew Peterson
I’d give you all of me to know what you were thinking
And if I had one wish I’d wish I wasn’t sinking here
Drowning in this well
Oh can’t you tell
That I can’t pick myself up off the ground
I’ve been face down
And pushed aside
Well, you know I’d rather just turn tail and run
Than lie here in the sun
And watch you pass me by
‘Cause I ain’t worth a dime
But if only I could stand up straight
I wouldn’t have to lie and wait
I could up and roll away
And never be ignored
I’ve got a feeling that I’m something more
Than just a piece of copper ore
Turning green and looking for
The reason I was born
Well, I’ve been around since 1974
In banks and bottom drawers
On railroad ties
I’ve been passed around and cast aside
And skipped and flipped and flattened wide
Spun around and thrown away and left alone to lie
But I heard about a penny found
Lying underneath the couch
By a woman who was kneeling down
Looking for some change
Then the woman danced around
Called her friends all over town
Told ‘em what was lost is found
It’s another penny saved
So I find that all this time
Beneath the surface, I could shine
Like all the gold a king and queen could measure
See, even just a penny is a treasure
