Most of us dread getting lost, losing our bearings, our reference points, and the sight of familiar people and landmarks.
The cliché is that men don’t like asking for directions but women have no problem with it. Not taking a position here. Actually today, virtually no one asks for directions anyway!
As someone who has a negative sense of direction, I consider the GPS one of the Ten Greatest inventions of All Time, ranking right up there with electricity. Of course I also use MapQuest before a drive to places unknown, just in case the GPS doesn’t work. I also have a “key finder” and am a prolific list-maker so I don’t lose track of – well, anything. You can’t be too careful if you’re directionally challenged. Or scared of losing your way.
The Gospel for Sunday is about getting lost – and then being found. It’s a popular parable referencing lost sheep and missing coins. It has led me to consider a variety of connected topics, like loneliness. Loneliness is a form of lost-ness.
The studies are unanimous that loneliness is a rampant problem in the America of 2019. Since it should be so much easier for people to connect with each other, you wonder why so many people suffer with isolation.
I drive through several college campuses in my neighborhood and notice that the vast majority of students are walking alone, many of them on their phones. I see very few students having impassioned conversations or having any conversations at all. The same in my neighborhood. I’ve been there for twelve years and know a couple of people – but certainly not well. I can’t help but remember my parents’ neighborhood (they DID live there for 60 years but still) where neighbors were their best friends, almost like family members.
Some say that you should challenge yourself periodically by intentionally risk getting lost so as to open yourself to new experiences and people. What comes to mind is one of my favorite documentaries by my hero Ken Burns: “Lewis and Clark, The Journey of the Corps of Discovery.”
In 1804, President Thomas Jefferson sent four dozen men in two oversized canoes up the Missouri River to encounter the “new land” and the people who lived there. They got lost many times, were rescued by the native inhabitants, and pushed on to the Pacific.
For Lewis and Clark, getting lost provided amazing gifts: the beauty of the land, the extent of its resources, the kindness of the people who lived there, and undiscovered resources within themselves.
And us?
“I once was lost, and now am found…. “
It is amazing grace that challenges us, saves us, and leads us home.
And it is ours.
See you in church.
Barbara
