Lost and Found

Yesterday one of my dogs ran off after a rabbit or a deer, and presumably became lost. I was distraught, and right away ran the checklist for a lost pet--posted on the local Lost Pet Facebook page, contacted the county animal shelters, made flyers, called the vet, my friends, and, yes, I prayed. It was getting dark when she ran off,  so I could not traipse through the woods looking for her. I had trouble sleeping.  I left the porch lights on all night in case she came back.I opened the door and hollered her name every 30 minutes. The next morning, I got the call from the animal shelter--they had my Macy. She was found. I was ecstatic, overjoyed, and I updated her status on Facebook and via phone calls and text messages. I celebrated her safe return by buying her a double cheeseburger.  

Through it all, I was receiving FaceBook notifications and messages and texts (and still am!) at an astounding rate. People I had never met were sharing my "lost dog" post, reacting with sad faces on my page and on the official lost pet page. Now, less than 24 hours after my initial request for help, there have been over 175 reactions or comments on my posts. And, even more astounding, over 90 people shared my post on their pages. And that is not counting my own personal FaceBook page reactions--nearly 50 so far.  All for my little lost dog. And I could not help but marvel at the outpouring of emotion and empathy over my loss, and later, her safe return.  

Yep, here is where I extrapolate this experience to the spiritual. In the gospel of Luke, chapter 15, Jesus tells the Pharisees three parables of the lost and found:  the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. I have heard these parables a thousand times, and used them in Sunday school classes I taught. I grasped what Jesus was trying to get across to his audience, and therefore, to all of us:  that God rejoices in even one lost sinner being found, one soul coming to Him. But I never REALLY got it. Or grasped the enormity of it all, until today.  

The question that keeps running through my mind, the burden that is heavy on my heart, is this:  

How many likes/comments/shares would I get on FaceBook to a post about me being lost, and now found? Would my friends and family and neighbors, let alone total strangers, mourn and worry and jump into action to help someone who was spiritually lost? Would they rejoice and annotate their comments with happy, celebratory emojis when that same person was found, and thereby saved? If I wrote a post about being lost, a sinner, condemned to eternal death, scared and wandering in the dark, cold rain, would anyone pray with me? Would they repost my frantic cry for help nearly 100 times and send me consolatory messages and texts?  What about when I followed the "checklist" and was no longer lost, but found, safe in the arms of Jesus, assured of eternal life? Would FaceBook celebrate with me? And even more importantly, would my experience urge others to take precautions, to follow the prescriptive checklist, to assure they and their loved ones would not be forever lost?

I am not bemoaning the outpouring of support and empathy and feeling over the past 24 hours. Nor do I begrudge anyone who celebrates the return of a lost pet, or trivialize the pain someone feels when they lose something they love. I am not judging anyone, or saying "the whole world is lost." I am not demonizing technology, or FaceBook, or the internet. No, this is MY lesson. I am wincing at the importance I placed on the loss of my dog, the happiness I felt when she was found, the way I so quickly became completely and utterly engrossed in one goal--find my dog. My conscience was already pricking me with how I often opened my FaceBook before I opened my Bible in the morning. How being "connected" to the world is part of my normal day, but I have to sometimes consciously set aside time for God. Then this.  

I was lost. Now I am found. Like the sheep. Like the coin. Like the prodigal son.  Like Macy.

I need to celebrate that publicly more often.  

So he told them this parable:  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he comes home, he calls together  his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.'  Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."  Luke 15:3-7