Whatever happened to the beauty of simple gifts? The dignity of small gestures? An episode from the life of Jesus is recorded in Mark 12:38-44 when Jesus commented on the small contribution of a widow in the Temple. After all the wealthy people put large sums of money into the Temple treasury, Jesus said that this widow had put in more than all the rest, because she gave everything she had.
In one of his books, Hal Brady tells of a bishop who was trying to raise a million dollars for missions. I think his story illustrates the point of Jesus’ teaching about this poor widow. He said that the bishop received in the mail many discouraging letters, except for one from a little boy. When the bishop opened it, out fell a badly wrinkled dollar bill. In the letter the boy had written, “I’m so glad you’re going to get a million dollars for missions. I’m going to 
help you get it, too. Here’s a dollar toward it. It’s all I’ve got now, but when you need more, call on me!”
In that little boy’s words is the spirit that could change the world. “It’s all I’ve got, but when you need more, call on me.” As Christians, we are the recipients of the greatest gift of love ever given, the sacrificial gift of Jesus Christ for our sake. We are truly rich beyond imagination. Can we, like the poor widow, find the courage the share the wealth we hold? Can we stop dribbling out our stores of love and selflessness and sacrifice and compassion, and dare to pour out our whole heart, our whole being, our “whole life” into the love-starved coffers of this world?
Maybe that little boy figured out how life is supposed to be lived. “It’s all I’ve got, but when you need more, call on me.”
