Lost

Today's reading on "Sacred Space" points me back to the image of the lost lamb posted on December 3.

Matthew 18, 12-14

What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.

Have you ever been lost? Or, have you ever been looking for a child or friend in the midst of a vast space? The process can be tense, especially if one is aware that time is passing. Sometimes it feels like the distance between "lost and found" increases with every second that passes. In fact, this can be true, especially if the one who is lost is mobile and is wandering farther away from the one who is the seeker. At some level we all desire safety and a reunion with circumstances that ensure a settled wholeness, don't we? We want to be returned to home and the love for which we yearn.

Jesus' words remind me of the loving one who seeks me whenever and wherever I stray. At any moment I may be wandering. As I move according to my own sense of direction, I may actually be going farther into the wilderness and its perils.

I pray for the stillness of thought, mind, heart, soul that will stall the distance between me and the Lord who seeks me. I don't want to be lost.