You decide
November 4, 2009 (Wednesday)
Recently I saw a penny on the parking lot at a local mall, and left it there. After all, what can it buy? The next day, I saw another one at a different location, so I picked it up. Why not? Yesterday, another one in my pocket. So, I m two cents richer today because of my good fortune.
I heard about a man who found some change on the ground, and liked the idea so much he looked for coins every time he walked. Forty years later, he had accumulated over thirty dollars, but he had a stiff neck and crooked back, from staring at the ground. Not to mention running into people and posts.
We are always making value judgments. “If the penny won’t buy much, then why bother?” My judgment in that case is made. Don’t pick it up. A clerk gives me too much change. My judgment is that it is dishonest to keep it, so I return it. I find a diamond ring at a public location. Is it, “Finders Keepers” or is it the time to locate the “Lost and Found” office and turn it in?
One day a lady lost her diamond wedding ring at our church. She had worn it for more than 50 years. When she had searched and searched, she gave up and left the church very dejected and depressed, in tears. In a day or two a guy showed up acting weird and asking questions. Finally he turned it in. He had picked it up when she dropped it. And he kept it for few days. I don’t know why. What a creep! What a happy lady when she got it back. I suppose she gave him some kind of reward, I don’t know. But he deserved 90 lashes with a wet noodle. Jerk! I learned that day that not everyone sitting in church is a good guy.
So, how’s your value judgment apparatus working? Many times you don’t have three days to make the decision. You have to decide right now. Keep in practice by thinking good thoughts, and you won’t have to think about doing the right thing. You’ll just do it because that’s the kind of person you are.