THE INNER VOICE
An Inspirational Magazine

Lost Coins In the Church Pew

by Pat Hood

They gathered together and a prayer was prayed
Then they sang the songs that the organ played.
The plates were passed, there was an offering to take
At the sound of the coins the church came awake.

By the sound of the coins you could tell just what
Had been given by who, and who had not.
The plink-plink-plink made a joyful sound
As plate after plate they were passed around.

Big coins, little coins, each had a face
And there in the plate they each took their place.
As the organist played the offering was taken,
And somewhere all thought of the giver forsaken.

So the coins were gathered and then taken away
To be counted to see how much was given that day
By the man who would take them all to the bank.
But the count came up short and his heart, it sank.

He had no need to count each dime or each nickel
For he knew who gave what, right down to the shekel.
But count it he did, for that's just what he does,
But the count wasn't right. His mind started to buzz.

So he went back and studied each pew and each face
And from all he could tell they were all in their place.
But someone was missing, was not in their pew
For the count of the coins was one coin too few.

He asked the song leader if he saw anything wrong.
He said all voices were there when he lead the song.
The man asked the greeters if some had not entered.
For on coins coming in their focus was centered.

The greeters had missed nothing as they watched the door
In fact they thought that day there had been a few more.
So he asked all the teachers if their class had been full.
The teachers said no but at least they weren't dull.

If this happened once it could have been fine
But the coin-counter noticed it, time after time.
So they called a big meeting and talked about money
They puzzled and puzzled, they looked sort of funny.

And they sent out for help to find out just who
Was not where he should be. Was not in his pew.
The rich man was ready their coffers to fill,
Saying he would be happy to pay all the bills.

Then they bought up some land and hired some crews
To build them a building and haul in new pews
For they found nothing in the pews that were already there,
Perhaps they should have knelt closer - in prayer.

This tragedy was happening all over town
The coin count was up and then it was down.
To track down the coins it became quite a race,
Which every church ran at a frenzied pace.

Till up in the front where the Wise Woman sits,
Without eyesight or hearing but plenty of wits,
Was heard a loving and questioning word,
Asking where have YOU been, has anyone heard?

Everyone looked into each empty space
Trying to remember the missing face.
Had they thought too long about the empty plate,
Abandoned the giver and was it too late?

For now that they noticed who was not in their pew,
Their hearts are broken because it was YOU.
It wasn't the faces on the coins in the plate
That was missing. It was YOU. And maybe your mate.

For a church cannot grow on offerings alone
For money, to God, is not worth a stone.
The heart is the offering that He wants from you,
For it is the Lost Coin in the church pew.

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