Late in June, I was teaching at a Vacation Bible School in Moon Township when I lost my wallet. VBS volunteers were asked to park across the street from the church in the vast parking lot of a corporate center. Many offices. Many workers. Anybody finding my wallet there would not connect it to the church.

I realized my loss—which included a debit card, multiple credit cards, two health insurance cards, and a driver’s license—as I walked into a Giant Eagle around 3 p.m. I panicked. I called the church. I searched the car. Nothing.

My phone chirped twice before 4 p.m. My son, from his office in Manhattan, texted, “Have you lost your wallet?” A man from Moon had connected with him through Instagram. A few moments later, my mother called to say she had talked with a man who found my wallet in the parking lot. He found her number on the Internet.

I reclaimed my wallet the next morning from the Good Samaritans—the man’s co-workers assisted in the Internet hunt—who made the extraordinary effort to find me.

My Tuesday story at VBS featured the parable of the Good Samaritan, so I went back to the children Friday assuring them that goodness exists and persists.

This is a prayer request for the nation. The Fourth of July and fireworks are in the air. Two national political conventions and a presidential election loom on the horizon. And, if your heart insists, you can pray into the big issues that frighten and divide us. I am suggesting a prayer for goodness. We are all blessed with it. Lord, help us find and share it.

On July 7, as the sun sets around 8:54 p.m., from wherever you are, with whoever wants to join you, let’s lift a prayer asking Our Lord to provide each of us with the awareness and courage and energy to pour more goodness into the world.

Lord, share your light so we can see our families, friends, and neighbors more clearly. Show us how we can serve, include, encourage and love them in new ways. Lord, share your light so we can see and serve our co-workers and classmates more clearly. Lord, show us how we can assist and encourage our first responders, teachers, pastors, medical teams, military personnel, and all who spend their lives serving us. Lord, let us see the ways we can serve, include, and encourage our children and youth and demonstrate for them the power of goodness.

The Good Samaritan didn’t leave Samaria thinking he would find a wounded man by the road. But he recognized opportunity and responded in extraordinary ways. My Good Samaritan didn’t begin his day looking for lost wallets. But he recognized opportunity and responded.

We are all gifted with abilities to touch other lives in incredible ways. Lord, help us share the goodness you have shared with us.

Photo by Martijn Aukema