The Plumbline

Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-43) A few years back, one of our grocers had a very well-stocked section in their store with 'overstocked' and soon to expire items. You'd be able to snatch up all manner of 'good bargains' for a very low price. We were able to stock up because of the 'excess' or 'surplus' of those items the grocer had 'over-ordered'. While this may be a good tactic for finding bargains, we sometimes found that by 'snatching up' those good buys, some of the items would go to waste because we...