Thoughts about that UPS box

On one end of the oblong box lay an unopened can of Dr. Pepper. On the other end, a can of Sundrop. Packed around them to prevent their rolling around was assorted trash, like fast food wrappers and cups. The weight of the box and secure packing to prevent rattling, made it pass for a tool that size. We figured that someone at the distribution point made off with a nice Dremel tool that would never be missed in inventory since it was sold.

At the store, a customer service manager believed the story and allowed our son to get another Dremel off the shelf no matter the months passed since the order. While that employee acted surprised, I have a feeling he had seen that kind of packing theft before, given his no hassle manner of accommodating our son. Things ended well, but we were left with the sadness at another example of theft, another scam, that is too common these days. (We also realized we need to immediately open packages to inspect them.)

I have often pondered when our country will reach a tipping point where dishonesty is far more common than honesty. In my neighborhood today, I am grateful that far more people believe it is wrong to steal than those who believe that theft doesn’t matter as long as the thief doesn’t get caught. In a crime-infested neighborhood, I might live in fear among a majority of thieves. Even so, out here in the country, right on our road, things can change.

Last week a man told my husband and me about a theft one pasture away from our house. For years the man has received permission to hunt on that land and has had a two-man deer stand with a wildlife camera set up there. Imagine his disappointment when he went to the site and found everything gone. Someone saw the stand and camera, considered them free for the taking and did so. So, we tip just a little more in the direction of lawlessness. It is no longer safe here to leave equipment out in the wild.

Having taught college students not too long ago who held varying beliefs about right and wrong (like cheating on a spouse is not wrong unless you get caught), I think about what children are being taught—or not taught—as the case may be. No matter if people are adverse to Christianity, the fact remains that all of Western Civilization was built on the directives of the Ten Commandments. Without “thou shalt not steal” in our moral code, and enforcement of it, we could never have existed. And without it, I doubt we can survive because theft is so all-encompassing, affecting land, money, material property, ideas, humans (as in trafficking), and as in drug addiction, the very heart of a person is taken.

As Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young sang in “Teach Your Children,” “You, who are on the road/ must have a code that you can live by.” We have a long road to finding a cultural moral high ground, but a good place to start is “Thou shalt not steal.”