devotions and reflections

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be. (Matthew 6:19-21)”

I was almost at the school gate going home from work on a hot day in March 2004.  In Thailand February to mid-May are the hottest of the year.  I didn’t mind walking home as it took only 12 minutes to get to my apartment.  I was already imagining feeling the cool air coming from the aircon as I sit on the  sofa and feet on the table to relax after a day’s work.  But my imagining was interrupted by two female friends who happened to live in the same apartment and they suggested I go with them in a taxi.

Since there were three of us sharing the bill, I agreed and sat next to teh cab driver. Somes paying I pulled 20 baht from my wallet then put the wallet in one of my bags. I hurried to my room to change and turn the aircon on. A few minutes later I got hungry and decided to buy bread from the minimart downstairs. Alas, my wallet wasn’t in my shoulder bag. I checked the other bag but it wasn’t there either. I started to panic. My wallet had 5000 Baht inside.  I have just withdrawn it a couple of days earlier to pay my debt off. The taxi had long been gone. I didn’t even think of asking the guard if he took notes of every taxi’s plate number. I couldn’t think right.

The day before I was in a superstore and saw a printer on sale. I thought of buying it but decided I better pay my debt off first. And now the money’s gone! In my wallet was my ATM cards, OFW card, school ID, and other cards like health insurance and accident cards.

I was hoping against all hopes that the kind driver would see the wallet as it must have slid on the floor next to him. And good karma would play so he would come back and return my wallet. Or he could just take it to the school where I worked since the address was in the school ID.  That week we were gonna go to a resort for a teachers’ retreat but with the loss, I also lost interest.

After a couple of days and no word from the finder I started to pray that the money was found by someone who extremely needed a cash. But I felt undeniable devastated. It was my whole-week salary. It hurt to think it got lost.  I had always wanted to find a wallet with money myself. I wanted to acquire the feeling of returning a lost wallet and make someone happier. But I never wanted to lose one.

A few days contemplation over the incident brought me to a conclusion that I was indeed very lucky to have just lost my money. I have lost a limb or an eye. Money can be replaced but not a limb or an eye. With this thought I started to feel better.

Just like what the verse above says, we should not put our hearts into our treasure.

Whatever we get out of this life depends on how we perceive things around us. We could harbor on our losses or get on and still be thankful with what we have left.  Yes, we must learn to be thankful and always look at the positive side of things.

That’s just what I did.