Meditations from Zion

At work, we have a lost and found box. It is usually brimming with “stuff” that people have left behind, some small but some of value. But most items languish, either the person doesn’t realize the thing is missing or more likely, where it went missing. They don’t even ask.

Luke 19:10
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

There’s a lost and found grid:

1. We know something is lost and we know what it will look like to find it.
2. We know something is lost but we don’t know what it will look like to find it.
3. We don’t know something is lost but we will know it when we find it. . . maybe.
4. We don’t know something is lost and we don’t know what it would look like anyway.

Where do you land on this grid? Where do I?

I have always been afraid of the last one: what if I am so clueless that I don’t realize I’m missing out on something important, something life-changing, something critical. That would be bad. This situation is the most difficult to reverse since no amount of talking or reasoning will bring revelation. Blown by the wind, anything might seem right in the moment. Some examples might be the mundane like church hopping or more serious, marriage hopping and affairs.

The third one is a state of mind and heart I know well. It manifests initially as a feeling, a gut feeling perhaps and a sense of discomfort in the present. I have no idea what is missing, if anything, I might just be imagining it, and yet, I sense that I will know when authentic thing, experience, person, situation breaks through. This situation is, unfortunately, unstable and bad choices are easily made here. (Reminds me of the old game show, Let’s Make a Deal, when the contestants often had the choice of keeping what they had in hand to something unknown behind “door number one, two, or three.)

The second scenario makes for a lot of experimentation. That is not always bad, but at the same time, when I’m in this mode, I tend to flit a bit, not giving myself or others a chance to really mature. I’ve always enjoyed personality assessment tests like the Meyers=-Briggs etc. But my favorite one is the Enneagram because the potential for change is inherent in the test unlike the others. Each type is given a number and the first time I discovered I was “7,” I was a little embarrassed. Although fun-loving and entertaining, sevens are also known for being a little shallow. Eek! Shallow? Perish the thought. And yet, I can see it in my past. To fight this tendency is to set aside times of deeper study and thought, literally forcing oneself to slow down and take time. This is how to pursue that elusive lost item. This is why I write.

And lastly, number one on the grid is the most aware person, the one who knows about loss and confidence that, once found, the hole will be filled in the heart, the ache will be soothed, the pain will be healed. What’s interesting to me is that even the enlightened experience loss. We all do. The difference is in the seeking.

So, where does Jesus fit into this equation? In real time, Jesus was the kind of person who could break through all four types. He brought an answer to the ones who sought and would recognize him immediately; he brought revelation to those were seeking but didn’t recognize the truth at first; he showed the ones who who didn’t realize they were lost a reality that could not be mistaken; and finally, he even broke through the ones who were blind and gave them sight.

Each miracle was a type for healing the heart. This will be my next study.

For today, I just thank you Lord for your revelation knowledge.