Do we all have value? Any worth?

Ever felt as if you had none? That you were worthless?

“Sometimes,” answered the lady I counseled on a street corner one day, “I feel nothing else.”

So this morning, I left the Hampton Inn in Tampa and dropped the rental at the Tampa International Airport.

I saw a dime on the terminal floor. At first, I stepped over it and walked on. Then, for no apparent reason, I just stopped, turned around, and walked back. I let go of my roller board travel bag, reached for my iPhone while dropping to my knees, and snapped a picture. I could feel the stares of the couple who walked by dragging their own oversized luggage. One of them turned around to see what I was doing. You can guess what he was thinking.

As I reached for the dime…

I gathered it up, looked at it, stood and dropped it into my pants pocket.

I asked, “Little fella’ ever been to Kentucky?”

I know. A bit strange perhaps. But I’m this way, you know. Furthermore, I have been thinking all morning about all the dimes and nickels and worthless pennies who inhabit our world. I wondered as I walked toward the gate and looked into the faces of strangers all around me…I wondered just how many of them felt worthless, as if their life was just a freak accident and their contribution to this world not much more significant than a dime on the floor of an airport terminal.

The world must be full of such people.

Or, maybe it’s because I’ve felt this way myself for much of my life.

Then, all of a sudden, I remembered something else – which is why I’m so glad I learned the stories of Jesus long ago and committed many of them to memory – I remembered the parable Jesus told of the woman who dropped a penny on her hardwood floors. She grabbed the broom and spent the remainder of the morning sweeping the floors looking for it.

Neurotic?

You bet it is.

Then, I thought about God and just how neurotic she is in her relentless search for you and me.

Why?

Even dimes matter in the Kingdom.