Lost (07/16/2024)

We were in Duluth. Construction zones peppered the roadways. We were trying to get back to our hotel across the bridge in Superior. We tried GPS, but I think we missed a turn. We finally decided to park, clear the GPS, and try again. Fortunately, this time we made two turns and saw the signs to Hwy 2 East. Getting lost in today’s complex world gets easier every day.

Getting lost geographically is a minor nuisance. Getting lost spiritually is not. Getting lost geographically is immediately apparent to us. Getting lost spiritually usually is not.

We get lost spiritually when we veer from “the way” that the LORD has shown us since the beginning of humankind. We deviate slightly here, we swerve there, we depart from the path with a radical turn. We can miss it because it usually worsens incrementally, slowly, and we are busy with other things around us.

Yesterday, as I was reading Luke 15 which features Jesus’ parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost or prodigal son, I recognized again how easy it is to get lost in this world. We fool ourselves at times with false bravado – I’ve got GPS! Often it comes down to stopping, admitting humbly that we are lost, and opening ourselves to being “found.”  Other times, the LORD finds us in such a way that we can’t miss the LORD’s presence nor the LORD’s loving and merciful “redirection” and it is only then that we recognize the obvious – “I was lost” – and give thanks to the LORD for being found.

I’ve been lost so many times in my life. I’ve let tasks overcome my sense of being as if what I accomplished would change who I am. I’ve let things and others around me disturb me, agitate me, even blind me to what is essential. I’ve blamed others for what was clearly my choice. I’ve denied at times that I need saving.

But our LORD doesn’t lose us without a fight. The good shepherd comes in search of us. We matter to the LORD. The LORD breaks into our present. The LORD stops us in our tracks. The LORD touches something so deep within us that it causes us to stop and notice. The LORD’s saving mercy is healing, comforting and yet challenging, and above all transformative.

As we continue in faith, buoyed by the hope of Christ, and fueled by love, let us accept and acknowledge our human tendency to get “lost” and our human need to be “found.” Let us open ourselves to the LORD’s Spirit who guides us and graces us. Let us open ourselves to the LORD’s inbreaking into our moments, our journeys. Above all, let us give thanks for our LORD’s loving mercy that refuses to give up on us.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.

Note: "Return of the Prodigal Son" by Rembrandt