Finder’s keepers? Never!

This last week while ordering my normal round of coffee from my Starbucks I saw some cash on the floor. A question which I’m sure some of the Baristas might of thought was whether I would have pocketed the $45. No one saw Jose’s cash that had clearly fallen out of his pocket. Yet, I would never be comfortable with taking the cash. So, I gave it to the lead Barista who figured who might have lost it. A few days later I asked the manager, a good friend, about the lost funds. She, first thanked me for turning it in and then said strangely that Jose hadn’t come to claim it. 

I know that there would be a debate amongst even adults as to whether this was some type of divine blessing I should use for one of my needy single moms. So, what pushes a person to choose not to be a keeper but instead weep with the person who has lost the cash, wallet or keys? I will never forget an episode of my wife’s where her phone accidently fell out of her possession when she was doing a gate code to see our daughter. It took her a little while to figure out her phone had vaporized. What shocked me after putting a message on the phone to text me was an actual call from a Good Samaritan who had it and was willing to deliver it. 

I would hope in today’s crazy world where morals seem to be rather absent that all would have a sense of wanting to be a helper instead of someone who is too quick to take what isn’t theirs. I’m always taken back by someone who will argue about their latest find as being their trophy. The Biblical story of the Good Samaritan, found in Luke 10:25ff, should help remind us of the call to love, help and care for our neighbor even when they’re a stranger. Imagine what the world would be like if more were quicker to understand the bigger impact of what happens when we choose not to practice finder’s keepers as the ‘law of the land’.  I know that the past generation of leaving cars unlocked or doors open today seems rather short sided and foolish. 

I hope that Jose does come back soon to retrieve his cash that fell out of his pocket. Unfortunately, he might have assumed that someone would have taken the cash and not sought to return it. I also hope that my Barista Friends would see their need to promote giving back regardless of the context. 

Finders who keep never win but eventually are those who will weep when the same happens to them!