Simone and the Missing Ring

This is not a Bible story but it is patterned after one. After Part Two, can you guess which story in the Bible is the original?

Part One

Simone was resentful and angry to the point of being obsessed. For months he had eyed the boss’s big house and fine clothes with envy. His own cabin and clothes were paltry by comparison. Why should he be poor when he also put in a day’s hard work? Simone wanted to be able to give his wife a nice gift. Every day, it seemed, he complained to his wife, Rosetta, about it. He especially resented the flashy ring Phillipe wore. It seemed to be a very costly one. How he wished he could have it. Then he’d be rich. Rosetta kept telling him that they had enough to eat, a place to live and clothing to wear. Even if it wasn’t as much as others had they should be thankful for what they have. The important thing was that God loved them and if they lived the way He wanted them too, life would be good. That had been evangelist Pablo’s advice. Simone wasn’t convinced.

The next day he and a number of other ranch hands were working with Phillipe on a fence. To keep from damaging the ring Phillipe put it on top of one of the fence posts. Simone saw him do it and at the end of the day noted that Phillipe forgot to put it back on. He considered telling him, but then succumbed to other ideas, “I’ll come back in the night to get it. It’s finders keepers. Too bad for him. Then I’ll be able to buy that gift.”

Simone did not tell Rosetta about his plan. Rosetta noticed that Simone was acting a bit strange but every time she asked about it he shrugged it off. In the middle of the night Simone got up quietly and snuck out the door. He moved as quietly as he could toward the fence because the post holding the ring was not far from the front of the house. He did not want to wake up Phillipe. He didn’t want to disturb the horses either, because they would neigh and wake up Phillipe. Softly step by step he approached the post. An owl spotted him, hooted and flew over his head. This startled the horses, who snorted and neighed a bit. A light came on in the big house and Phillipe was looking out the window. Simone stiffened with fright. What if Phillipe saw him. He dared not move. Simone stood as straight as he could behind the fence post hoping that in the dark he would not be noticed. Phillipe came outside, swung the lantern around a bit peering into the darkness to see what might have disturbed the horses. They settled down and Phillipe went back inside. The lights went out. After waiting for quite a while Simone began to feel his way up the post in the dark and onto the top. Was the ring still there? Sure enough, there it was. Should he take it? But then he remembered the evangelist, Pablo, who had visited the ranch a while ago. He told everyone that God sees everything. “Be sure your sin will find you out,” Pablo had warned. For some time Simone struggled with his conscience. Should he take it or should he make sure Phillipe gets it back in the morning? He reached up again and felt the ring. The battle raged!

(To be continued next week)

 

Henry Wiebe