A few weeks ago I received one of those emails that has been forwarded and forwarded so many times it took minutes to get down to the original message. The email was describing the one dollar coins that have been issued in recent years. I remembered that I had a few in my coin purse and pulled them out. On one side it reads “John Adams, Second President 1797 – 1801” and a picture of his head shot. The other side is “The United States of America” and a picture of the Statute of Liberty. The email was right. “In God We Trust” is nowhere on the coin that I could see! This alarmed me.
I started to think about what it means to have “In God We Trust” on our money. I realized I had never thought much about the writings on the dollar bills and coins I carry around. I don’t look at them closely. Having “In God We Trust” on the money didn’t automatically drive me to think of our Lord at every cash register I visited. So why was this bothering me so much?
It bothered me because it represented the chipping away of the Lord out of our world. It also shined the light on the fact that “In God We Trust” was just a slogan on our money. For many, we trust in money, not God. We have faith that the dollars in our bank accounts will keep us safe, and happy and at peace. We don’t fully trust in God at all.
I make this bold statement because it is what I am seeing in myself. I trust God to a degree, particularly when I have made mistakes. I hope He will salvage something from some mess I have made, but when I am back to feeling better I am back in charge. Until the next mess….. I have recently come to meet some people that have given God complete charge of their life, and their faith astounds me. I want that. I want God to make the decisions, avoid the messes and see where He takes me. My new motto is “In God I Trust”, and I will work to have it not be just a slogan. I am keeping the coin on my desk as that constant reminder.
As a side note, I went out on the internet to learn more about this change to our money. “In God We Trust” IS on the coin, it is just written around the side. But in looking at our world, it could just as well be missing. Is it missing in your life?
Kristi L. Andersen is the principal of Kristi L. Financial Partners, LLC. (www.KristiLAndersen.com) Securities offered through and Registered Representative of Financial Network Investment Corporation, member SIPC. Advisory services offered through AdvisorNet Financial if applicable. Financial Network is not affiliated with Kristi L Andersen Financial Partners, LLC or AdvisorNet Financial. 1221 Nicollet Mall, Suite 400 Minneapolis, MN 55403
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