Shelburne faith column: An amazing display of honesty
Recently when a friend told me about leaving his credit card in a café, his scary tale instantly reminded me of a time when I did the same thing.
Three decades ago when our Marine son was stationed in Naples, to spoil our grandkids we had to (!) spend some golden days in Italy. By then, my lady had become an almost professional travel agent. For the trip I’m remembering, she booked us a timeshare week in Sappada, a tiny village nestled high in the Dolomites, the Italian alps.
Most of the time that week we shopped in local markets and cooked our meals in our B & B, but for supper one night (an anniversary or birthday, maybe) we took our crew of seven to a family owned bistro on Sappada’s main street. It was a fun night, a tasty meal — an evening made hugely enjoyable because we got to watch so many activities that you’d never see in a typical American restaurant.
I paid for our supper that night with my Visa card. Something must have distracted me while I was signing the meal ticket. I left that card on the table (something I never do) and walked out the front door without it. And, since we were doing most of our shopping with Italian lira that week, I didn’t notice that my credit card was missing.
Two or three days after our special meal in that cafe, my lady and I decided to indulge in some mid-afternoon coffee and sweets. We had forgotten, however, that most Italians close their shops and take a siesta after lunch. The only place we could find open was that fine café where I had unknowingly abandoned my card, and this turned out to be providential.
When we talked in the café’s front door that afternoon, the young lady behind the front counter began gesturing toward us and shouting something to the café owner in an excited tone. That older Italian man pulled my Visa card out of his cash register, looked at my picture on one side of it, and then smiled and handed it to me.
What an amazing display of honesty! I’ve had my pockets picked more than once in Paris. I got my wallet cleaned out by the custodial staff while I was sleeping in a U.S. embassy in eastern Europe. But in that quiet, almost unknown alpine Italian village, I was blessed to deal with an honest man.
Honesty is “from the Lord,” the Bible tells us. And that’s true whether you’re in West Texas or Italy.
Gene Shelburne is pastor emeritus of the Anna Street Church of Christ, 2310 Anna Street, Amarillo, Texas. Contact him at GeneShel@aol.com, or get his books and magazines at www.christianappeal.com. His column has run on the Faith page for more than three decades.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Shelburne faith column: An amazing display of honesty
