A man with a nagging secret

couldn't keep it any longer. In confessional he admitted that for years

he had been stealing building supplies from the lumberyard where he worked.

"What did you take?"

his priest asked.

"Enough to build my own

home and enough for my son's house. And houses for our two daughters.

And our cottage at the lake."

"This is very serious,"

the priest said. "I shall have to think of a far-reaching penance.

Have you ever done a spiritual retreat?"

"No, father, I haven't,"

the man replied, "but if you can get the plans, I can get the lumber."

That man didn't get it, did

he? Like a lot of folks these days, integrity is out the window. Character

is taking a beating. Kobe Bryant cheats on his wife. Sammy Sosa uses a

corked-bat. Jim Harrick's scandal tarnishes UGA basketball.

Too many people are like the

husband who was asked by his wife, "why don't you play golf with

Ted anymore?"

The man replied, "Would

you play golf with a man who moved the golf ball with his foot when you

weren't watching?"

His wife replied, "why,

no, I wouldn't."

Her husband said, "Neither

will Ted."

Is anyone honest anymore? Several

weeks ago, two Valparaiso, Fla., 13-year-olds named Aaron Milligan and

Josh Thedford ran over an envelope with their lawn mower. The envelope

was thick, really thick.

The two lifelong friends and

business partners for the summer mow lawns around Valparaiso to earn spending

money. What they found was an envelope full of money that stalled out

their lawn mower. When they picked up the inch-thick envelope, they eagerly

thumbed through a dozen or so $20 bills, and then they found the $100s.

Altogether, their discovery totaled $2,787.

The boys found a secluded spot

to count and recount the money. "We were shocked," Aaron said.

"We couldn't even breathe,"

Josh added. The boys started a list: Jet Skis, Playstations, baseball

equipment, a new lawn mower.

As the evening unfolded and

their list grew longer, they began to have second thoughts. Someone lost

that money, and they knew it would be wrong to keep it. It didn't belong

to them.

Josh's mom drove them to City

Hall, and they handed the envelope over to stunned police officers. The

cash had already been reported missing by its owner, a 36-year-old former

sheriff's deputy who was permanently disabled last year when injured on

active military duty. He was on his way home from the bank with money

he planned to use to buy a pontoon boat for his kids when he dropped the

cash.

Three hours after reporting

it missing, the police called to report the boy's recovered envelope.

He rushed to the police station and met Aaron and Josh, who realized by

now that they had done the right, honest thing. The boys were rewarded

$80 each, not quite enough for a Jet Ski, but more than they'd make in

a day of mowing lawns.

Sandwich shop owner Janet Kirkpatrick

treated the boys to a free lunch and told them they were heroes.

"These are the sort of

boys you want in your neighborhood," she said. "A lot of people

would have just taken the money and run, but these are good boys."

Thankfully, there are some

honest people left in the world.

(Dr. David L. Chancey is pastor

of McDonough Road Baptist Church in Fayetteville. The church family meets

at 352 McDonough Road for Bible study at 9:45 a.m. and worship at 10:55

a.m. each Sunday.)

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