St. Michael Russian Orthodox Church

March 14, 2010

Becoming a thief

There was a young boy who lived up near Scranton. He spent a whole day out gathering berries, like many other young people did, and then began going from door to door selling them. Finally, he came to a door, and when the lady of the house opened it he asked her if she would buy some of his berries. "Yes", she said,"I will." She took his basket into the house, but he stayed outside. She said to him "Why don't you come in and see that I measure your berries correctly. How do you know that I won't cheat you?" He answered her saying, "I'm not afraid because you would get the worst of it". She said, "What do you mean by that? How would I get the worst of it?" "Lady", the boy said, "I would only lose some of my berries, but you would make yourself a thief. Don't you think that you would be getting the worst of it?"

The person who told me that story of long ago was absolutely right. Anyone who steals or does anything wrong or just plain mean to get a couple of dollars is piling a sin on himself that is bigger than whatever gain he thinks he is going to have. It doesn't matter who the wrong doer is, it doesn't matter what the wrong being done is, the person who does wrong to someone else always gets the worst of it. We find ourselves living in a time when a great many people don't seem to have any idea of what is right and what is wrong. The only thing that they concern themselves with is "Can I get away with this".

Some years ago I met a politician several times. He was a nice enough person and I enjoyed his company. Then it happened. He got caught along with other people in some kind of dishonest deal. I ran into him downtown just before he started serving his jail term. When he met me on the street he soon had tears running down his face. He said, "I'm so ashamed. Now my children know their father is a thief". Truly, just as the berry seller said, the person who does wrong always gets the worst of it.

There is an old Polish saying that applies to so much in life: "God sees, God knows, and God pays". Let this be true in your life. Let God always see the good you try to do, let God know that you live to please Him and let God pay you with this love and blessing.