When God Speaks

There is an old saying, ‘Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers’. At first read this sounds almost aggressive, but the actual meaning is quite simple. If someone finds something, it then belongs to them while the one that loses something becomes sad and can only lament over the loss. My take on this explanation is first, ‘how did the person find the item and second when found, did they know or even suspect who it may belong to?’ The answer to these two questions influences what I feel about the old adage.

I experienced finding something quite valuable at an early age and this experience impacted me greatly. At 8 years old, I was in a small country store with my Mom when I happened upon a beautiful sparkly diamond ring lying on the floor. It was just there, on the dusty floor; and of course, in the eyes of an 8 year old it was the most beautiful ring ever. Don’t get me wrong, it was pretty regardless of my age and upon inspection from my mother, she determined it was quite expensive.

I wanted to keep this ring and proudly display my find on my middle finger, but my mother let me know that someone had lost this ring and was probably distraught over it. So she decided that we needed to tell the store owner about the find and maybe see if she might know who it belonged to or if someone had inquired about this ring. With much reluctance and no choice in the matter at 8 years old we go back inside the store and inform the owner of my find. She says something that I cannot remember, but what I do remember is her saying that she would post the finding of the ring to see if anyone might come forth and claim it. If no one claimed the ring, then it would be mine to keep. After thanking me and praising my decision (actually my Mom’s decision) to be honest and do the right thing, we left the store. I earnestly hoped no one would claim it.

For a month or so when I would go in the store, I would hope to hear her tell me that I could take the ring home now. I never questioned her, but I always made sure she saw me in case she had news of any kind for me, but silence became the way. I had noticed that there was not anything posted on the store’s door, windows or near the register regarding the ring, but I didn’t think much about that at the time.

One day I asked my mother if she had heard anything about it. She said no and told me she would call the owner to check. She called her and was told that yes, the owner of the ring had claimed it. I was beyond devastated, but life goes on. I remember my parents discussing the incident and both agreed that the store owner kept the ring and never posted anything about a ring being found. My dad made the comment that if someone had claimed it they certainly would have wanted to thank the person that turned it in and possibly offer a reward since it was an expensive ring. Yet, this never happened and the store owner would not tell my mother who claimed the ring. It seems as though I remember hearing my mother say that she saw the store owner wearing it. I can’t be sure about that comment, but I do know we never once traded with them again and to an 8 year old that seemed a little odd.

This experience put a bad taste in my mouth about trusting others to do the right thing with something I felt was mine to resolve. It made me suspicious of people and I believed most folks were greedy and out for only themselves. It made the words they spoke sound cheap and hollow. Trusting others again was an uphill fight, but in the end I won that battle. You see, I believe that regardless of what others do or are capable of doing that I must still do the right thing. The results are left up to God and either way they may go, He always has the best marked out for me even if I don’t understand the whys at the time.

The ‘Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers’ saying doesn’t fit well with me anymore. It has now become, ‘Finders Winners, Losers Winners’ because regardless of the way a matter may fall, if God is in the mix, we all win.