The Widow’s Mite: All Gifts are Equal If Given with a Pure Heart

The Christian story of the Widow’s Mite, has been a part of my personal consciousness since I can remember. It, along with other more obscure tales from various belief systems, are what have lead me to the understanding that, all gifts are equal if given with a pure heart. As such this article is not intended to be a forum for debate, about the theological meaning, of the tale of The Widow’s Mite. This tale is simply the most known, of the works that have lead me to this belief, and how we all should act, on a mental level, in regards to the gifts that others choose to give. Therefore, when using the comments section of this article please stick to the main focus of the article, and leave debates, about the theological meaning of the tale of The Widow’s Mite, for other places, where that is actually being debated.

The actual story, of The Widow’s Mite, is in The New Testament, in Mark 12:38-44 and Luke 20:45-47,21:1-4. I will not relate it from these works directly, you may look them up if you choose to do so. As the tale, did not, at first, become a part of my consciousness, by directly reading those works, throughout this article, I will give you brief descriptions of the tale, in an impressionistic way, to simulate the manner it became a part of my consciousness over the years, by hearing others talk about it. Those people being members of my family, their friends, and preachers. In the tale of the Widow’s Mite, Jesus makes his disciples take note of a woman who only gave a two mites, a small amount of money, like the value of a penny is today. He tells his followers that this gift is so great because it was all of the money the lady had.

The story has been used to tell people they should live in poverty, said to be a condemnation of Pharisees, Jewish Priests, and also claimed by some to be way of condoning Anti-Semitism. Still other unscrupulous people have used this story to get people to donate more than they could afford, to a church or charity. I am not going to lay that trip on you and tell you to give up everything to help out other people or organizations. I could just throw the whole story out as being offensive to me if I take it at face value. A poor women, giving her last two mites, to a temple full of wealthy priests, is not something I generally view as a good thing.