A cosmic test

Yesterday, I found a wallet on the sidewalk that contained a driver’s license, some health insurance cards, two ORCA cards and eight $100 bills. (It was also a Marvel Comics-themed wallet.)

I walked to a convenience store, purchased a padded envelope, packed it up and mailed it first class to the address on the driver’s license.

Looking back on it, I realized it never occurred to me to keep the money, which I guess is a good thing.

But then I got to thinking about how people would frame this incident.

Some would say I just guaranteed myself good karma. I did something good for someone and now something good may happen for me. But I wonder how people automatically come to that conclusion, versus assuming something good happened to me, first, and now I was paying it back.

I don’t really believe in karma, so I don’t have any expectations on that front.

Another philosophical approach would be that I reap what I sow. That may be true if I delivered it in person and was given a reward. But I sent the envelope anonymously, so nothing materially good can come of this for me.

Yet another view would be that I just took a step toward securing a place in Heaven. But the Bible says that it’s not what we do here that matters, but if we’re willing and able to honestly say we accept Jesus as our Savior when we have our moment of judgement with God.

I would argue it was simply the right thing to do. It didn’t belong to me, and I knew how to get it to the owner, so that’s what I was supposed to do.

Somewhere in all of this thought process, I was thinking, “what are the chances?” Since this is the first time I have ever found $800 in cash, and I’ve been alive for nearly 17,000 days, I guess the answer is a 0.006% chance.

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1 Response to A cosmic test

  1. You forgot a possibility. Maybe by sending the wallet back you are creating the kind of world you wan to live in. Like that commercial where each time some sees someone else do something nice they do something nice in turn. Great story, but not the best ad because I forget what the as was selling! But you get the idea.

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