This post is actually a “postscript” to a previous posting titled “Thou Shalt Not Steal“.  I hope you take the time to read it for its food for thought, but I will quickly summarize the events that prompted the original post, so I can share the update with you.

• My husband was unaware that he had dropped his wallet while at a store
• When he returned home, he realized that he did not have his wallet
• He returned to the store
• He and the clerk were looking for it
• Meanwhile, a woman stepped on his wallet in the parking lot and came into the store with it
• My husband opened his wallet to offer her a cash “thank you”
• She declined saying to give it to someone who needed it
• My husband gave the cash to our pastor telling him to use it as he saw fit to pass it along to someone in need

And so, this is where the postscript or update begins.

Once you pass something along to someone, you no longer have any control of it. It is out of your hands, and you may never hear what happens to it. Such is what we thought of the “thank you” that was passed along to our pastor to pass along to someone else.

The other day, as I was talking with our pastor, he told me that the envelope with the cash in it had sat on his desk for these many weeks. He had wondered what he would do with it, who might need it. This week he finally got his answer. As he said, the need presented itself. As it turned out, someone was dealing with a family life situation, and he felt that this person/family could use a little assistance.

While my husband didn’t expect to hear about what Pastor did with the “thank you cash”, it does feel good to know that someone was able to benefit from it. And once again, we are thankful that a lady in the parking lot did the right thing. It would be nice if we could tell her, but I’d like to think that she knows that both my husband and pastor also did the right thing by passing it along for someone in need.

Is it stealing if you keep something you have found, even if it does not belong to you? This is tempting, especially in these tough economic times.

This evening my husband went out to the corner store to get some ice cream. (Not that I needed it, mind you, but he thought I’d like some. Bless his heart!) He got home and realized that he did not have his wallet, so he headed back to the store. While he and the clerk were looking on the floor, a lady came in and said she stepped out of her car and stepped on a wallet. (That brought a sigh of relief!) My husband thanked the lady and offered her twenty dollars. She refused, telling him to pass it along to someone who needed it.

This brings me back to my original question. Is it stealing if you keep something you find? In the truest definition, I suppose not. But ethically, yes it is. Thank goodness that beautiful lady understood the commandment “Thou shalt not steal”!

That, along with the other nine commandments direct us as how we are to direct our life.  Christian home decor of The Ten Commandments makes a statement and serves as a daily visual reminder of how you and your family choose to live.      

As a post script to this message: You can be sure that a thank you prayer was said, and that, in fact, we will pass that twenty dollars along to our pastor to distribute to someone in need.

August 22, 2009  There is a post script to this post titled “Do the Right Thing“.  Read the update on what happened after the “thank you cash” left our hands and was turned over to our pastor.