“Mom, I’m lost.” This phone call wasn’t unexpected. My young adult was out running errands, but since she spent almost every car ride of her life with her head in a book, Roseville looks like a brand new city from the driver’s seat. And why use the navigation system in the car or ask Siri when Mom is just a phone call away?
After confirming she was parked in a parking lot (duh, Mom), I asked her what she saw around her. That’s the thing when you are lost, right? You don’t know where you are! All you can do is look around for clues and hope that someone else can figure it out with you. Street signs, storefronts, and intersections are all guideposts when we are out and about that help us get from here to there. We figured it out and as I hung up so she could try again, I wondered which would come first: her car pulling into the driveway or another phone call. She made it home, relieved, but also a bit energized. “That was strangely exciting!” she said. Indeed. Getting lost and figuring it out is part of the journey, isn’t it?
Right now in my spiritual direction practice I’m hearing a lot of my clients say some version of “I’m lost.” For many, the pandemic has confused our spiritual lives and we are adrift. Worship isn’t what it was, our prayers have changed, and where we used to feel steady, now we feel shaky. Our patterns got disrupted and we aren’t even necessarily sure that we want to return to the old ways. We’ve faced some questions we never imagined asking, and we’ve gotten unexpected answers. What can we do when we feel lost in faith?
Being unsettled or disoriented is uncomfortable, and feeling lost can be nerve wracking, but it might just be the beginning of a new route to seeing God and the world. Maybe the best we can do is pull over and park (duh, Mom), look around us and ask, “what do I see? Where do I see life? Grace? Joy? Resurrection? How is the Spirit changing me, nudging me, moving me?” What do you see?
In Peace, Pastor Ruth
Let us pray:
Lead us, Gracious God, and shape us by the grace of Christ and the inspiration of your Holy Spirit. Open our hearts to expand our understanding of generosity and faithfulness, that we may grow in our ability to reflect your love and grace to those we meet this day. All this we ask in the name of Christ, Amen.