Finders Keepers - Losers Weepers?

I confess that as a Jr. Higher that played in a rock band that on occasion the group would shop lift either sheet music or vinyl LP’s from the local music store. I know that at first all of us were really scared stiff and only did this on a dare from another music friend. After figuring out how to corner the only employee in this store it became too easy to lift little things. After a while we truly believed we were experts at this and didn’t fear getting caught. The reality was that one day one of our guys, on his own, attempted to lift something and got caught. Fortunately for all of us this brought our career of being thieves to a sudden halt. Yeah, I forgot to mention that we were twelve to thirteen years old.

So as I bemoan the fact that I at times have multiple thefts happen around us that is serious, it is difficult to understand the obvious question as to why? I continue to tell those in our group that finder’s keepers doesn’t equal ownership! It is easy though at times to bring God into the picture and say it is actually the Almighty who has brought me this new phone, iPod or ________. We were on a Slide Rock Trip a few weeks ago and I re-enforced the obvious please put all valuables into our group bag that is protected by Grandma Doris. Don’t leave anything out or in the vehicles. It never fails that someone does something rather ‘stupid’ and walks off and leaves a phone or iPod on the table.

As we are cleaning up and getting ready to leave for our trip home it is obvious that one of our teens is missing a phone in addition to one of our adults. We look all over the place, through all of the 11 vehicles and there isn’t anything to be found. The adult helper finds his phone that was in his bag but the teen comes up short. The unfortunate thing is the person who got it razzes her as she texts back on her phone. The person says the obvious that he found it and it automatically becomes his. Yeah, in this context the losers who have lost something definitely weep.

A couple of days later I get a text from one of my Prof friends at ASU who helps all of the time. Someone has found his phone on campus and wants to return it. I’m thinking is this really happening? The individual asks me to call which I quickly do. The college student asks who the individual happens to be and I quickly share that he is a Prof at ASU. The student then acts as if he is close to his office and walks in and drops off the phone to my friend. Wow – someone actually gets it.

I have a couple of more of what I call my wife’s iPhone stories. One night my Anne takes our older daughter out to a late movie. On her way to drop off our Heather my Anne accidently drops her phone out of the car when she is doing the code to break into the complex. My Anne realizes this as she is pulling into our driveway and comes into the garage. She quickly texts her phone from my phone and is shocked to get a quick response from someone who works late and just had gotten home in our daughter’s complex and sees the phone on the ground right next to the entrance spot. Anne, even though she is exhausted, quickly drives back and retrieves her phone. I only discover this after seeing the texts on my phone. This obviously was a ‘God Thing’ and we give thanks and decide to be more careful.

Flash forward another year and something similar happens. Anne is getting ready to go someone where and her phone comes up missing. She obviously thinks that her husband will go on a rampage if he finds out. That afternoon our college live-in’s mom’s boyfriend returns the phone. He had been racked with guilt because he supposedly found the phone on the street but when he turned it on he recognized Anne’s picture. Clearly, if it had been a different person’s phone, with a different picture, he would have sold it or pawned it. Again, we were humbled and amazed to get it back. We had no idea how it ended up on the street. Did Anne drive off and leave the phone on her car and it fell off? Maybe someone stole it and got ‘cold feet’ and tossed it? Who knows what happened.

 This last week one of our newer teens left her purse, unannounced, on the concrete underneath a table where we were doing crafts. This was a game night in a large park with lot of other people and kids all around. I had told everyone not to bring any valuables and if they did to give it to an adult.  This didn’t happen and the purse vanished. We still haven’t figured out whether the teen came back and got it, which is what a few remember and then misplaced it in the park as we were out doing games and hanging out. Once it gets dark it is impossible to find. Fortunately for her she only had makeup and a key in the purse. She kept her cell with her and didn’t have any money on her.

I’m always surprised to read stories about celebs that get caught shoplifting who are totally rich. You think why would someone in this context steal? Don’t they know they can or will get caught and all of the bad press that follows? We once had a close pastor friend and wife stay with us. He was considering doing church planting. Something happened, which they tried to keep secret, where she got caught taking something out of a nice store. This truly was unfortunate but the consequences still happened. She had to come back to court and work with the storeowner who eventually drops all charges and she pays a fine for restitution.

Sure I get tired of having to always be cautious about how I even leave my high tech ‘stuff’ around. I am quick to put it up, even in my house, not to make a temptation to anyone. The truth is that we live in a fallen world where most are wanting something that they are not able to get and so seeing that precious item unattended could be trouble. Until recently I didn’t understand how having next to nothing makes easier to justify taking something you find on a table, on the ground or in the bathroom. I have argued too often, even with mom’s, about how it is important to give back what’s not yours and let the owner give you a reward or the school or store calls you back up in a week and says the item is yours.

So what about the old adage, ‘Finders keepers and losers weepers?’ I’ve tried to cast a bigger picture type of vision that shows that ultimately anything taken by ill-gotten gain is wrong. You have taken something from someone else and continue to miss the point of being responsible and wanting to be self-sustainable. Yet, many who pay big taxes cheat, find loopholes or just don’t file. Someone with means always seems to get off for doing something illegal whereas the normal person ends up in jail or with a huge fine. The celeb figure, always in the news, gets away with ongoing DUI’s and gets only community service. I would be at Tent City, thanks to Sheriff Joe, for at least six months.

I know that too often I define my self-worth and value by the possessions I own and not by my person or as some would say my being. We live in a society where possessions become everything. The car I drive defines whether I’m successful or a failure. The house I drive that car into further defines whether I’m a person of means or just existing. Obviously there has been an identity crisis taking place in our world where it comes to what is most important in life, i.e. relationships, how we live and treat those around us or what we possess. So it’s your choice next time you see someone else’s cell phone, iPod or iPad as to whether you chuckle on the inside and say, Finder’s Keepers and totally forget what it’s like for the person who lost their phone or iPod. Yeah, one day it will happen to you when someone finds your lost phone or iPod and you might be weeping.