The Widow’s Offering

Service to others is the testimony to which all the others point. If we live simply, then we avoid the wastefulness that endangers the earth’s ability to adequately sustain life for future generations. If we live in peace, then we, in the words of John Woolman, work “to lessen the distresses of the afflicted and to increase the happiness of the creation.” If we live with integrity, then we treat everyone we meet with respect. If we value community, then we share what we have with each other. If we honor the testimony of equality, then we insist that all people have the same rights.

We might be tempted to say to ourselves or each other, “What can I do? What little I contribute will make no difference.” We might say that out of a genuine feeling that our contributions are inadequate compared to what others might be able to give. We might remind ourselves at such a time of the story of Jesus and the widow’s offering in Luke 21:1-4.

“He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on."

Mosaic at the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna 6th century