The last time I lost something on Jekyll Island it was a harrowing experience. I wrote about it in detail, a story that remains one of the most widely read Rector’s Ramblings I’ve ever written. On that occasion, it was Scarlette, my German Shepherd, who got loose and ran away from fireworks. After many hours of searching, I did locate her, injured, but largely ok. It was a happy ending. This time, I wasn’t so sure of the happy ending. I suppose it is the whole “2020 thing,” I’ve noted before.  Even I can be a bit fatalistic about “one more thing” this year.  

This time it was my wallet. We went over the Jekyll for the afternoon to have lunch, ride bikes, and sit on the beach. At some point, I dropped my wallet. I knew the last place I had used it (to give the girls some spending money), and I knew all the places it wasn’t. I called the restaurant near where the car was parked, in case someone had turned it in. Donna called the Island Authority, too. No one had turned it in. There have been times in the past where I have mislaid my wallet at home, but I don’t believe I’ve ever lost it entirely. It was a bit nerve wracking.

During the search, my phone buzzed and I saw that someone was sending me a message on Facebook Messenger – someone I didn’t know. The message said, “Are you in Jekyll Island?”  “Yes,” I replied, adding “Wallet?” “Yes,” was the reply, “Where are you?”  My answer: “Haha – looking for it now!” a second later the phone indicated a call via Messenger and I got to speak to Connie, who I later learned lives in Tennessee and was visiting Jekyll with her family for the first time. They had found my wallet in the parking not near our car (I must have missed my pocket after I gave the girls the money), and were going to turn it in to the State Police office.  She decided to search social media and found me that way before they could get there. 

A few minutes later, we met up and they handed over my wallet, refusing any kind of remuneration. Instead, I offered to make a donation somewhere important to them, which ended up being the St. Jude Children’s Hospital. I wrote them a thank you message and sent a screenshot of the donation later that afternoon and praised the reality that there are good people in the world despite what seems to be a plethora of news and opinion indicating the opposite. I had asked God to bless them (in the quick socially appropriate way) when we met up, and praised God in my message back with a simple, “God is good.” I’m guessing they already knew I at least worked for a church; they had gone through the wallet looking for a way to contact me and one of my credit cards is my Christ Church corporate card, so I’m guessing my comments didn’t shock them. It was a small way to bear witness to the goodness of God, but an important one.  

Any such incident that reinforces the overwhelmingly positive nature of the human condition is important. We need reminders that not only is God good, but so are our neighbors. These days we seem to want to classify one another as all sorts of horrible things, but deep down, the majority of us are actually loving, caring people who will help their neighbor. These nice people returned my wallet, with its cash intact, because it is the right thing to do. I expressed my gratitude by paying it forward because that’s the right thing to do. I wish we could all do the right thing so easily in other ways, like talking about the big problems that face our country and the people who hold differing opinions about how we might address them. It’s a tall order in a historically contentious election year, I realize, but one can have hope that we’ll figure it out. I rejoice that God IS good, and most of us are most of the time. Even in 2020. 

Thank you, God.  And thank you, Connie!

Tom+

Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we thank thee for all thou hast given and for all thou has forgiven; for thy hidden blessings and for those which in our negligence we have passed over: for every gift of nature or grace: for our power of loving: for all which thou hast yet in store for us: for everything, whether joy or sorrow, whereby thou art drawing us to thyself through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.