Insignificance

A British man has unintentionally become a viral sensation after undertaking a meticulous repair of a McDonald’s sign that had become a running topic in the Dull Men’s Club Facebook group. The McDonald’s location at the White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds, England, featured a sign with a missing inner section of the letter "D," leaving it as an incomplete silhouette.

Steve Lovell decided to fix it. Drawing attention from social media users, Lovell carefully researched McDonald’s branding guidelines and used a 3D printer to replicate the correct design for the sign. His initial repair gained traction online, and when he noticed a second sign at the same location with the same issue, he repeated the process.

Lovell’s dedication was widely admired, even as some joked that his actions made him "too interesting" for the Dull Men’s Club. He acknowledged the humor in the situation: "I think it's the whole pointlessness of this that has caught people's attention. Not many people would notice a sign missing bits from it. Fewer still would be bothered by it and practically no-one at all would bother to spend time and effort actually rectifying it."

The White Rose Shopping Centre joined in celebrating Lovell’s quirky mission by naming him their tongue-in-cheek "Employee of the Month." In a post on social media, the mall wrote, "Thank you Steve, our March employee of the month, for your selfless work — we're lovin' it."

Lovell emphasized that his actions were driven by personal satisfaction rather than corporate loyalty or fame. "The fix wasn't even for the benefit of McDonald's as some people claim," he said. "It was for me, and anyone else that would have noticed. Sharing it was just about the mundane absurdity."

What began as a simple desire to correct a minor visual flaw has turned Lovell into a symbol of endearing dedication to detail — and maybe, just maybe, a bit too exciting for the club that celebrates life's most uneventful pleasures.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Dedication; Humble Service; Perseverance – Many Christians work quietly behind the scenes – living for God's glory and eternal gain, not for recognition.

The next time you're signing your name at the DMV or another U.S. Government office, you probably won't notice the black pen in your hand. It, after all, is exactly like the dozens of other black pens you've used in post offices, courthouses, and other buildings throughout your adult life. You certainly won't think there's much of a story behind the unobtrusive implement that, likely as not, is chained to the well-worn desk you've been waiting to stand at.

But like everything, those pens have a story. For over 55 years, those Skilcraft pens have been assembled by blind factory workers in Wisconsin and North Carolina. Each year they make nearly four million pens. The pens must meet rigorous government specifications: to write continuously for a mile, and within temperature swings from 40 below zero to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. The standard length of the pen has helped lost Navy pilots navigate by map. Stories say that the pen can be used as a two-inch bomb fuse, or for emergency tracheotomies. It can write upside down. It costs less than 60 cents (when purchased in quantity).

The pen has a rich, fascinating history, woven together with war, peace, postage, bureaucrats, spies, work, and play. And you'd never know it to look at it.

Much like many of us. In every room, every single person has a story, a rich, fascinating history that few of us ever think to ask about. If we did, we'd be floored, astounded. We'd see each other differently, and with more respect. Just like you'll see that pen differently the next time you pick it up.

When a researcher started interviewing hospital workers—the people who cleaned out the patients’ rooms each day she assumed they would only have bad things to say about it. That was partially true, but she also found a second group of workers with the same jobs who felt their labor was highly skilled.

They described the work in “rich relational terms,” talking about their interactions with patients and visitors. Many of them reported going out of their way to learn as much as possible about the patients whose rooms they cleaned. “It was not just that they were taking the same job and feeling better about it … It was that they were doing a different job.”

This group didn’t see themselves as custodial workers at all. One described forming such a bond with patients that she continued to write letters to some of them after they were discharged. Another paid attention to which patients seemed to have few visitors or none and would make sure to double back to spend some time with them. They said things like, “I’m an ambassador for the hospital” or, “I’m a healer. My role here is to do everything I can to promote the healing of the patients.”

One woman told how she rotated the art in the rooms of coma patients. She would take paintings down in one room and putting them up in another. The woman explained that it was at least possible that a change in scenery might spark something in their comatose brains.

These workers were quietly creating the work that they wanted to do out of the work that they had been assigned to do. The researchers called them “job crafters.”

I’ve noticed along the way of life that some people are much better at seeing people than others are. In any collection of humans, there are diminishers and there are illuminators.

Diminishers … make others feel insignificant. They stereotype and label. If they learn one thing about you, they proceed to make a series of assumptions about who you must be.

Illuminators, on the other hand, have a persistent curiosity about other people. They have been trained or have trained themselves in the craft of understanding others. They know how to ask the right questions at the right times—so that they can see things, at least a bit, from another’s point of view. They shine the brightness of their care on people and make them feel bigger, respected, lit up.

Illuminators are a joy to be around. A biographer of the novelist E.M. Forster wrote, “To speak with him [gave you] a sense of being listened to with such intensity that you had to be your most honest, sharpest, and best self.” Imagine how good it would be to offer people that kind of hospitality.

Pro quarterback Patrick Mahomes had just limped his way through a last-minute, game-winning drive in the 2023 AFC Championship when he gave the credit for his performance to someone that even the biggest Kansas City Chiefs fans had never heard of. “Julie WAS the reason I was the guy I was on the field today!” Mahomes wrote to his millions of followers on Twitter that night. Her full name is Julie Frymer.

Who is she and why is she so important to the team? She’s the assistant athletic trainer. Frymyer had one of the NFL’s most important jobs in the 2022-2023 season: She was in charge of putting Mahomes through rehab for his injured ankle and getting the star quarterback ready to play for a spot in the Super Bowl.

Hobbling through a nasty sprain that often requires weeks of recovery, Mahomes wasn’t just able to play against the Cincinnati Bengals. He was fantastic. He was clearly gimpy, grimacing through several plays, but he was mobile enough to make several key plays, including a crucial run setting up the last-second field goal that sent the Chiefs to the Super Bowl to face the Philadelphia Eagles.

Mahomes going out of his way to praise her was the first time most people in Arrowhead Stadium had ever heard the name Julie Frymyer, but the Chiefs knew her value long before the guy with a contract worth nearly half a billion dollars, might as well have given her the game ball.

The final curtain fell on the longest-running show in Broadway history after 13,981 performances. Alan Lampel has been there for roughly 13,000 of them. Mr. Lampel has done the same job in the same place for the same production from the very beginning of its existence. He takes a seat in a rolling chair at his desk in the back of the orchestra section of the Majestic Theater and plays the most important role that nobody should notice: He is the head electrician for The Phantom of the Opera.

“I’ve seen the show more than anybody on earth,” Mr. Lampel says. In fact, nobody has seen any show as many times as he sat through Phantom, which has sold 20 million tickets and earned $1.3 billion during a run that made other Broadway productions look more like high-school musicals. There was one guy keeping the lights on the whole time. And the success of any business is every bit as much about the electrician operating behind the scenes as the people taking a bow on stage.

Mr. Lampel was there at the start on January 26, 1988, and he was there at the end on April 16, 2023. That kind of longevity on Broadway is not just unprecedented. It’s unimaginable. There were colleagues he loved and bosses he didn’t. His responsibilities evolved with technology.

Others in the theater have no reason to pay attention to Mr. Lampel. But it’s those who understand Phantom the best who appreciate his contributions the most. Andrew Lloyd Webber, the show’s composer said, “Phantom has shone brighter on Broadway for 35 years because of the work of Alan Lampel.’”

Possible Preaching Angle:

In life, usually the author, the speaker, and the star of the show gets the praise. But quite often, just as much praise, if not more, is due the person who quietly and faithfully works behind the scenes. This is especially true in the church, where a faithful group of people often work unnoticed to set up chairs, staff the nursery, work with the youth, using their less “spectacular” spiritual gifts who also do the work of God.

In the film Wonder, which is based on the novel with the same name, a 10-year-old boy named Auggie was born with a rare medical facial deformity. Auggie has been home-schooled his whole life. But in fifth grade, his parents make the decision to send Auggie to school. The film chronicles Auggie’s experience of acclimating to his new social environment, getting bullied for the way he looks, and slowly making friends.

The story is told from multiple perspectives, including the story of Auggie’s older sister, Via. Via loves Auggie and watches out for him, but she often feels unseen by her family because of how much attention Auggie requires. And so she adjusts her life around this reality. Via fades to the background and keeps the details of her life hidden from her parents. There’s this poignant moment when Via expresses how much she longs for her mother to cast her gaze fully on her.

And then there’s this scene, where Via is serving as a stagehand as well as the understudy for the lead role in the high school’s production of Our Town. Her parents are in the audience because Via’s best friend has the lead role. But then her friend, who sees an opportunity, pretends to be sick right before the curtain goes up, which thrusts Via onto the stage, while her parents sit in the audience watching her amazing performance.

After the play is over, her family comes backstage, overwhelmed by her performance. And then there’s this moment, where Via looks up, and everything else fades to the background, and her mom is staring her right in the eye, with this look of incredible love and pride. And she simply points at her. In that moment, it’s as if Via is receiving the fulfillment of a fundamental human desire: to be seen, to be known, and to be loved.

The scene can be found here.

Charles Plumb was a U.S. Navy jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent six years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now speaks on the lessons learned from that experience.

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. "You were shot down!" Plumb asked, "How in the world did you know that?" The man replied, “I packed your parachute.”

Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor."

Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute? Who has done something that has helped make your day safer – or easier or more pleasant – or who have you witnessed ‘packing’ for someone else? Recognize them right away.”

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Help; Support; Support Team – Each of us are touched by individuals who provide what we need to make it through the day. Praise that person. You are supporting the kind of behavior you respect – making it more likely to happen again. 2) Evangelism; Discipleship - Who told you about Christ? Who discipled you? We are all grateful to someone for introducing us to Jesus. Let’s give thanks for them “for packing our chute.”

A small bowl bought for just $35 at a yard sale in Connecticut has turned out to be a rare 15th-Century Chinese artefact. The white porcelain bowl was spotted by an unidentified antiques enthusiast near New Haven last year, and they quickly sought an expert evaluation.

The experts came back with good news, revealing that the bowl is thought to be worth between $300,000 and $500,000. In fact, it is believed to be one of only seven such bowls in existence and most of the others are in museums.

Angela McAteer, an expert on Chinese ceramics said, "It was immediately apparent to us that we were looking at something really very, very special. The style of painting, the shape of the bowl, even just the color of the blue is quite characteristic of that early, early 15th-Century … Ming [Dynasty] period.”

How exactly the bowl found itself being sold at a Connecticut outdoor sale remains a mystery. Some have suggested it may have been passed down through generations of the same family.

"It's always quite astounding to think that it still happens, that these treasures can be discovered," McAteer said. "It's always really exciting for us as specialists when something we didn't even know existed here appears seemingly out of nowhere."

Possible Preaching Angle:

God often hides great value behind the veil of the ordinary: 1) Deity of Christ; Humanity of Christ; Messiah - The deity of Christ was cloaked in humanity when he was born in a stable (Isa. 53:2-3; Luke 2:7); 2) Human worth; Insignificance; Small Things - The “ordinary” people in our churches have hidden value (1 Cor. 1:27; Jam. 2:5).

Eighty-three-year-old actor Anthony Hopkins won the Oscar for Best Actor at the 2021 Academy Awards. In an interview soon after, he was asked about being happy:

The irredeemable past—we can never go back. The sadness of life is that we go on—we're born in this world, and at the end we leave, and you think, ‘What was that all about?' My life ... at the end of it all, I don't know what is … what's it all about? Is there meaning in it? So what makes me really happy is—what makes me free—is the feeling that nothing is of that much importance. We're pretty insignificant little dots in our vast universe.

Life is important only because we choose to make it so. And that's the freedom I have. Free from worrying about this, that and the other. You know, being significant, all that stuff. But there's finally nothing to prove, nothing to win, nothing to lose, no sweat, no big deal. And that's my philosophy. Ask nothing, expect nothing and accept everything. That's it.

He told a struggling young actor: “Enjoy it. Just do it. You can either do it or you can't. If you can't, it doesn't matter. Who cares, finally, in the end?”

Hopkins enjoys happiness in life’s meaninglessness:

That's to me happiness: to acknowledge that I know nothing. I'm insignificant. It's all meaningless to me. And it's a bit of fun to have a little bit of acclaim and be successful or achieve things—it's fine. ... Enjoy it while it lasts. We know nothing. And that comes back to me. I know nothing. I don't know anything.

At Princeton University, an artist has taken it upon himself to honor a group of unsung heroes with an honor usually reserved for top-level donors, former presidents, or founding charter holders. Mario Moore painted a series of ten portraits honoring the blue-collar laborers who help keep the campus functioning in the areas of maintenance, facilities, dining, grounds, and security.

In an interview with CNN, Moore said he wanted to depict those folks “in a position of power.” University spokesman Ben Chang said, “Mario's portraits capture beautifully the character and contributions of valued members of our campus community and bolster our broader efforts to ensure Princeton's portraiture … reflects the University's values and diversity.”

According to Tracy K. Smith, the art center chair, “Mario’s work and his presence on campus have served to heal some of the lasting wounds of racial division that have long marred this institution's history.”

Possible Preaching Angle: God is honored when we recognize unsung heroes, people who serve quietly and consistently, for the benefit of the community.

A vanilla shake is one of life’s simple pleasures, especially on a hot summer’s day. Did you know that vanilla traces its origin all the way back to a twelve-year-old slave boy living on a tiny island in the Indian Ocean? Vanilla is now the most popular spice in the world, but in 1841 the world produced fewer than two thousand vanilla beans, all in Mexico.

Up until the mid-19th century, vanilla orchids were pollinated exclusively by a particular genus of bee in Mexico. Over the years, as demand rose, attempts were made to industrialize the pollination process, to no avail. Vanilla was stubborn. All of this changed thanks to the ingenuity of that 12-year-old slave named Edmond Albius on a small island, 500 miles east of Madagascar. He was uneducated, yet he managed to solve one of the great botanical mysteries of the nineteenth century.

In 1822 a plantation owner on the island of Reunion was granted some vanilla plants from the French government. Only one of them survived, and nearly two decades later it still hadn't fruited. Without that bee pollinator, no one outside Mexico could get their plants to flower--that is, until Edmond worked his magic.

The owner was walking his plantation with Edmond in 1841 when he discovered, much to his surprise, that his vanilla vine had produced two beans! That’s when Edmond revealed, very matter-of-factly, that he had pollinated them by hand. The disbelieving plantation owner asked for a demonstration, so Edmond gently pinched the pollen-bearing anther and the pollen-receiving stigma between his thumb and index finger.

By 1858 Reunion was exporting two tons of vanilla. By 1867, it was up to twenty tons. And by 1898, it was two hundred tons. And it all traces back to a twelve-year-old boy named Edmond who hand pollinated a single vanilla vine. From that single vine, a billion-dollar industry was created.

Possible Preaching Angles: Hope; Insignificance; Persistence; Patience; Small things; – The least likely person can be used by God to bring about great changes if they use their gifts and opportunities regardless of their circumstances.

There are 290 species of pigeons in the world, but only one has adapted to live in cities. But that one species has an amazing skill—the ability to carry an important message and then to find its way home. Recent studies have suggested that they navigate using human structures as well as natural ones: they follow roads and canals, and have been observed going round roundabouts before taking the appropriate exit. They can fly extremely fast—up to 110 miles per hour—and can cover 700 miles in a single uninterrupted flight. There are faster birds, but none can fly horizontally, under its own power, as quickly as a pigeon.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries they became important as messenger birds. During the Siege of Paris in 1870, pigeons were taken out of the city by balloon and returned carrying thousands of letters stored on microfilm and sewn into their tail feathers. During the First World War, soldiers at the front used pigeons to communicate with those behind the lines and with tank commanders when their radios failed. In the Second World War, most bomber crews carried a pair of birds in a specially designed floating cage. If they were shot down they would release a pigeon bearing a message detailing their position.

Major General Fowler, the British army’s chief of signals and communications wrote, “If it became necessary immediately to discard every line and method of communications used on the front, except one, I should unhesitatingly choose the pigeons. When the battle rages and everything gives way to barrage, machine gun fire … gas attacks and bombings, it is to the pigeon that we go.”

Possible Preaching Angles: In the same way, as a follower of Jesus, you do not need to be the fastest or most amazing witness for Christ. But we are called to be faithful and reliable to carry the message of Christ to others.

Many communities are forced to reckon with good things that somehow slip through the cracks. In Claymont, one of those things ended up as a blessing.

The New Castle County community has developed a quarter-century-long tradition around a quirky piece of folklore—the humble Claymont Christmas Weed, which locals decorate every year. Despite its diminutive size and unorthodox locale, it has become a defining centerpiece of the Claymont holiday celebration.

It started back on a slow news day in 1993, when a local newspaper photographer captured an image of a wild fir tree growing out of the cracked pavement of Philadelphia Pike. Neighbors and motorists in passing had adorned it with a few modest ornaments, and the image of the plucky—dubbed “the Christmas weed” in the headline—did the early 90s equivalent of going viral.

Unfortunately, the photo caught the eye of officials at the Delaware Department of Transportation, who considered it a potential traffic hazard and scheduled it for prompt removal. The DOT’s Scroogelike response escalated a community outcry; not only was it promptly replaced several times, but a reporter wrote a sentimental fable about it that was well-received by the general public.

Twenty-five years later, Claymont celebrates the weed with a literal parade of cheerleaders, marching bands, and fire trucks. Resident Barbara Harbin, who organizes the festivities, understands the appeal.

"We say it represents Claymont. We're not pretty, but we're plucky. We are resilient, and we keep coming back."

Potential Preaching Angles:

One secret of Christmas joy is that blessings come from unexpected places in unexpected form. The young, the vulnerable, the rejected... those tend to be the vessels that God chooses for his glory.

In his book Immeasurable, Skye Jethani writes:

Compare two leaders. Leader A lifted an entire nation in a time of despair. He mobilized his people against unimaginable odds with a clear vision and inspiring passion. He launched a movement that has impacted literally everyone alive today. He set in motion an industrial and scientific revolution that produced the first computer, the first jet airplane, began human exploration of space, and unlocked the mystery of nuclear energy. Almost every aspect of the modern world has, in one way or another, been influenced by this man. By the time he died at the age of only 56, everyone on the planet knew his name. Without a doubt, Leader A changed the world.

Leader B lived during the same era. In fact, he died just 21 days before Leader A, but his life was very different. At the height of his influence, Leader B ran a school with just 100 students. He wrote a few books but was not widely regarded. He was beloved by his friends and family and had a reputation for being both intelligent and faithful, but at the time of his death almost no one knew his name, and most considered his life's work unfulfilled—including Leader B himself.

So given the choice, which leader's strategies would you rather study? Which leadership conference would you rather attend—the one featuring a keynote address by Leader A or the one with the small workshop in a back hall led by Leader B? If you are inspired by the world changing effectiveness of Leader A, congratulations! You've chosen Adolf Hitler. Leader B was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor who was executed by the Nazis for his relentless opposition to Hitler.

God often hides his greatest gifts in ordinary packages. Perhaps, knowing our heart, he doesn't want us to become enamored with the mode of delivery. And all so that we might better appreciate the gift being offered.

So we must be careful about presumptuously prejudging the appearance of ordinary circumstances, ordinary days, or even ordinary people.

In his biography simply titled Grant, Ron Chernow tells the story of Ulysses S Grant's meteoric rise from store clerk to Civil War hero and beyond. By the fall of 1863, Grant had overseen successful campaigns in Vicksburg and Chattanooga. Suddenly, national leaders and politicians who just months before would have hardly recognized his name now sought to rub shoulders with the Union's hope of victory. In October of that year, on his way to a meeting in Louisville, Grant was approached by Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, and Ohio Governor, John Brough. Chernow describes the encounter:

While Grant and Stanton had communicated via telegraph, they had never set eyes on each other. Short of breath, asthmatic, snuffling with a heavy cold, the short, stout Stanton barged brusquely into Grant's car, eyed the officers present, and then began to pump the hand of a bearded man with an army hat whom he assumed was Grant. "How do you do General Grant?" he cried. "I recognize you from your pictures." Stanton was embarrassed to learn he was shaking hands with Grant's medical director, Dr. Edward Kittoe.

Chernow explained: "Stanton later admitted that in guessing which officer was Grant, he had eliminated the real Grant because he looked much too ordinary and wasn't the prepossessing figure he had imagined."

Born in an insignificant town, to unknown parents, in humble surroundings, Jesus was missed by many. He was overlooked because "he looked much too ordinary and wasn't the prepossessing figure" some had imagined.

Today Jesus can still be missed. We can extend our hand to something that looks like joy; while real joy sets humbly by. We can pointlessly pump the hand of what we think will deliver peace; within reach of the Prince of Peace.

Google StreetView, the virtual tool that allows users to view eye-level images of a location defined on Google Maps, extends to cover many parts of the world that are accessible by car. However, the Faroe Islands (an autonomous island country within the Kingdom of Denmark) noted over a year ago that their beloved island had not yet been indexed by Google's tracking, and submitted a unique request.

Led by resident Durita Dahl Andreassen, they proposed a Google "Sheep View" in which 360° cameras would be strapped to the backs of roaming sheep who would then provide the world with images spanning the remote beauty of the island nation. Upon receiving the proposal, Google reportedly responded that the idea was "shear brilliance" and supplied the island with the necessary equipment.

The project was completed, and Google Maps Program Manager reflected on its success saying, "It's our mission to make the farthest corners of the world accessible through Street View in the palm of your hand. But there's a lot of world out there, so sometimes we need a little bit of help to hoof the distance. Now, thanks to Durita and her trusty sheep, you can explore the Faroe Islands in Google Maps. It goes to show—if there's a wool, there's a way."

Potential Preaching Angles: Regardless of whether sheep were actually present at the birth of Christ (as most popular nativity scenes would lead us to believe), the Bible tells us clearly that the Messiah was born in a small, insignificant part of the world that really had yet to be "put on the map." And yet, those who were present when and where Jesus entered into to the world-whether poor shepherds or wealthy magi-would be the ones whose accounts would eventually bring the rest of the world good tidings of great joy.

In the 1920s a young African American writer moved into New York City to join what became known as the Harlem Renaissance, an explosion of creativity among black artists. Through his poetry, Hughes often tried to capture the common struggles and heartaches of people in his neighborhood—like this poem simply titled "Dreams":

Hold fast to dreams,
for if dreams die,
life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams,
for when dreams go,
life is a barren field,
frozen with snow.

Some critics blasted Hughes for his negative portrayal of ordinary people, but Hughes was adamant that he wanted to write about the brokenness of ordinary people living ordinary lives. He once said that his poetry is about "workers and singers and job hunters on Lenox Avenue in New York or South State in Chicago—people up today and down tomorrow, working this week and fired the next, beaten and baffled … buying furniture on the installment plan … hoping to get a new suit for Easter and then pawning that suit before the Fourth of July." Hughes understood that life is filled with hope and beauty but sometimes it can also feel like a broken-winged bird or a barren field, frozen with snow.

The next time you're signing your name at the DMV or another U.S. Government office, you probably won't notice the black pen in your hand. It, after all, is exactly like the dozens of other black pens you've used in post offices, courthouses, and other buildings throughout your adult life. You certainly won't think there's much of a story behind the modest implement that, likely as not, is chained to the well-worn desk you've been waiting to stand at.

But like everything, those pens have a story. For over 40 years, those Skilcraft pens have been assembled by (blind) factory workers in Wisconsin and North Carolina. They must meet rigorous government specifications: to write continuously for a mile, and within temperature swings from 40 below zero to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. The original design—brass ink tube, plastic barrel not shorter than 4 5/8 inches, ball of 94 percent tungsten carbide and 6 percent cobalt—has changed little over the decades. It costs less than 60 cents. The standard length of the pen has helped lost Navy pilots navigate by map. Stories say that the pen can be used as a two-inch bomb fuse, or for emergency tracheotomies. It can write upside down.

The pen has a rich, fascinating history, woven together with war, peace, postage, bureaucrats, spies, work, and play. And you'd never know it to look at it.

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) Jesus Christ; Cross—As Christ hung on the cross he was not impressive, but he was still the eternal Son of God. (2) Dignity; Human worth—Some of us, or some people that you know, may not seem impressive, and yet they bear the image of God.

A business student from Georgetown University gave a friendly nod to the night-shift janitor who was working in his study room. Today, that student—Febin Bellamy—is the founder of the group Unsung Heroes, dedicated to spotlighting and raising funds for the "invisible" workers on campus. And that janitor—Oneil Batchelor, who is also a "gifted cook"—has a website for his jerk chicken catering business.

Once Bellamy had struck up a friendship with Batchelor, "the once-invisible worker," he couldn't help but wonder about the others: the plumbers, the window cleaners, the cashiers. He began sharing photos and stories on the Unsung Heroes Facebook page—and "the stories got shared. And liked. And loved."

Students are doing more than just posting their appreciation, though. For instance, "the same students who once silently handed their meal cards to [Umberto] Ripai [a cafeteria cashier] raised more than $5,500 on a GoFundMe page for him to go to South Sudan." Ripai's family lives in South Sudan—and he hasn't seen them for 45 years.

In Batchelor's words, "It's like the door has cracked open in front of me … . And I can smell the air coming through. The inspiration."

Potential Preaching Angles: This story is a powerful reminder to see those around us as fellow image-bearers with stories to tell and burdens to bear—as fellow human beings, created and loved by God.