Lost and Found

Dedicated to those you love who are sometimes lost and hard to find.

Being lost is a hopeless feeling. You don't have to be deeply lost or lost for a long time before you wonder if you will be found. A small child just one aisle over from his mother in a grocery store will scream in panic. In the 1996 tragedy on Mt. Everestt some of those who perished were found within a stone's throw from shelter. Being lost is a hopeless feeling.

When you are lost it doesn't matter how you got lost. It doesn't matter if the error belongs to you, or someone else, or the conditions around you. When you are lost all that matters is the heroic efforts of those who search to find you.

Like those lost in the woods or on a mountain or in a grocery store are the lost souls around us. These are dear people who lose their way. They become separated from hope, direction, and those who love them.

These lost souls can be overlooked by those around them. They can go unnoticed by the best of churches, pastors, and people. They can go unnoticed by faithful and caring employers and workmates. They can go unnoticed at the local pub and the local gym. They can go unnoticed at school. Has anyone seen Jim? No, not in a while....

The lost may continue to function for a while. Even someone stranded on a mountain can survive. But in time and panic a person can make unhealthy choices. Crying out to be found a person can step right over the edge. Some simply "check out." John Krakauer's book "Into the Wild" tells the true story of a disallusioned young man who perishes in his self-absorbed pondering.

In the end it doesn't matter how a person becomes lost. All that matters is the heroic efforts of a person like you to find the soul who needs to be found.

You, dear friend, are a good shepherd. You search for lost sheep. You are relentless. You are persistent. You search until you find. The question for you is not how a person got lost. The question for you is how you will find him; how you will reach him; how you will invest in his soul. The question for you is how will you see him better, hear him better, and sense him better. No one will go unnoticed on your watch.

Let's rope up together, you and me. Let's rope up and search for those who are lost. It doesn't matter how they got lost. What matters is how we, together, will find the lost and help them back into a warm and caring community. Write someone a letter of encouragement and hope. Call someone on the phone and let them know you are thinking of them. Give someone an unexpected gift. Pray. Say kind and good things about others. Invite people to join you. Never let people sit alone -- unless they want to. Listen. Smile. Dry a tear. Put away your watch and take some time.

I am found when I am with you.

Jeff on the mountains.