To the Editor:
“Abraham bargained with God for the salvation of Sodom and Gomorrah.
He proposed to God that if there were 50 righteous people in the cities that
God should not destroy the cities. Fifty were not found. The number was then reduced to ten. Ten were not found and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.”
On Jan. 3, my son attended the Walkerton Drive Test Centre to do his driving test to acquire his full “G” licence. Although we live in Arthur, an hour drive from Walkerton, he chose Walkerton because of the flexibility in appointment times.
Jan. 3, 2025 began with beautiful sunshine but at approximately noon it began to cloud over and snow flurries set in. Despite the incoming weather, which at our departure time was intermittently seasonal, we chose to attend at Walkerton to complete the test rather than losing our test fee. The drive north from Arthur to Walkerton was fairly clear but once we reached Walkerton the snow began to settle in earnest.
My son took his test, acquired his “G” designation and we left the town amid flurries, blowing snow and slippery streets. At an intersection in the south end Walkerton stood an individual hitch hiking. My son pointed to him and requested we pick him up. I was in complete agreement as the weather was not fit for neither man nor beast. My son exited our car and opened the rear passenger door to move some items to let the man into our car. As soon as the traveller was settled, we proceeded. At the next town south of Walkerton, the traveller stated this was where he was going, so we let him off and continued our journey to Arthur.
Once we got home, my son asked me if I had seen his wallet. I told him “no” and both of us then began to search. It was not to be found. In the evening my husband, on return from work, joined us in the search of the car, our house and the driveway but to no avail. Upon discussion and reflection, we came to believe that when my son left his front passenger seat to move items on the back seat to let the traveller in, he must have knocked his wallet out of the car and he did not notice this as he didn’t use his wallet on the return trip.
My son is a labourer earning the salary of a labourer. With the rapid and huge increase of the cost of living over the past few years, it has been hard for him to keep up with paying the costs of merely surviving. In his wallet was approximately $80 cash, two Christmas cheques and gift cards worth about $180. He could ill afford to lose this amount of money. However, we had to accept that he wouldn’t see the wallet again and the whole family pulled together to replace some of the loss with his siblings providing a couple of gift cards and us, his parents, deciding we would replace the Walmart card with a value of $110 on it: our contribution meant to minimize the blow of the total loss.
On Jan. 6, I was away from our family home for most of the day. On return, I had my arms full and I was endeavouring to control our young dog while I was getting into the house. My husband arrived home from work at the same time I was attempting my convolutions. I was in the kitchen when my husband walked in and held up a black item and said: “What is this?” I looked at the item and recognized it as my son’s wallet. My husband stated he had picked the wallet up off the indoor mud carpet. I had not seen it between the doors as I came in and the wallet must have fallen inwards onto the carpet as the wallet was very cold.
Totally astounded we attempted to figure out how it got in between the two front doors. Had my son dropped it onto the driveway when we returned home? Had a neighbour found it and put it in the door? How, in all of the experience we had had on that Friday, could the wallet have arrived in Arthur? At the very least, had a snowplow salted the road behind us, the wallet would have been tossed into the accumulating snowbank and been lost until spring.
After mulling over several possible scenarios, the only thing that made sense to us is that someone in Walkerton had found the wallet soon after it was dropped and having read the insurance binder in the wallet for my son’s vehicle, (insurance was in my name and thus had my address) drove the hour trip each way from Walkerton to Arthur and brought back to us my son’s wallet.
My son was incredibly relieved and the gloom that had been visible in his face was immediately lifted. But that isn’t the end. My son opened his wallet and, low and behold, everything was still in his wallet: the cash was there, the gift cards were there, the coins were there – nothing had been removed. Whoever had found the wallet not only took upon themselves the time consuming task of returning the wallet, but had eschewed any temptation to profit from my son’s misfortune by removing items of value.
I cannot express how this righteousness impacted my son. My mothers’ eyes, having seen his grief and distress, were now able to see his joy and astonishment. It was a miracle.
Why did I mention Abraham at the beginning of this letter? Walkerton has, as demonstrated by the actions of our benefactor, shown that there is at least one righteous person in Walkerton.
We were given honourability, compassion, respect, care and regard, all adding up to one exemplary human characteristic – that of love. As Abraham mediated with God, he kept reducing the number of righteous persons that were the fulcrum on which God was to base his decision of destruction. Although the final figure was 10, the finding of one person is significant in this day and age and I would ask God that He, because of this person, rain on Walkerton endless blessings and peace.
My family, especially my son, wish to thank that person. No note was left with the wallet to allow us to contact the individual to offer our gratitude.
You know who you are. May God bless you abundantly through your life.
I am at 226-203-4953
H. Joy Lippai,
Arthur
