Ascension : News From The Grotto - Thought For The Week
Submitted by The Islander (Shari Parkhill) 09.09.2010 (Article Archived on 23.09.2010)

I’ve spent a lot of my life getting lost. My sense of direction leaves quite a bit to be desired. I’ve been lost while walking, in the country and in cities, and while driving, again, both in cities and on country roads.

  I’ve been lost a lot underwater while diving – my sense of direction really seems to desert me then!

My recent vacation was a good example.  Even with the help of my GPS unit, I spent a lot of time “misdirected”.  I joked that it was a distinct possibility that the GPS might just self destruct after 5,000 times stating that it was “recalculating”; it might just give up figuring its owner was a lost cause.  Or, as I stated on my Facebook update after getting lost in Portsmouth (how many cities did that make that I’d been lost in?) that my GPS was now “searching” for a new owner since it had decided I was a hopeless case.

One thing I did discover was that getting lost usually had a nice outcome in that I ended up being treated to some great scenery that I would have otherwise missed.  Of course, this wasn’t always true – almost ending up on a pedestrian way in downtown Canterbury and having to perform a tricky 52 point turn amongst pedestrians and lorries had not one redeeming characteristic!  Except perhaps, to not moan about the motorway quite so much when I finally negotiated my way onto it!

But, getting lost on my way to my friends in Forres took me through the Cairngorms National Park, and a beautiful part of Scotland I would have otherwise missed.  I was a bit upset with myself for missing Loch Ness on the way, but my friends took me there the next day.  If I had passed through as I had planned the day before, as part of a long drive, I would not have had the time to have lunch in Drumnadrochit, and would not have driven on both sides of the loch.  I probably wouldn’t have taken the time to stop and take my shoes off and stick my feet in Loch Ness and discover just how truly cold it is! 

Not getting lost on my way to Lockerbie would have kept me from experiencing the fun of driving down a one lane track through a sheep pasture where I had to avoid the sheep in the roadway.  I had to drive slowly and it gave me time to really appreciate the gorgeous scenery.  That particular lane will always have a special place in my heart, even though I have no idea exactly where it was.

I’ve discovered that getting lost while hiking on Ascension just means discovering another interesting corner of this fascinating island.  I’ve been lost at home while walking in the woods.  A couple of years ago while hiking along old logging tracks I finally made it out to a back road in the centre of the Peninsula.  I was so turned around that I had no idea even which way to walk on the road.  I made a guess and started off.  It was almost a mile until I came across the first house.  The older gentleman working in his garden was a bit surprised to see me.  He was even more surprised to hear where I’d started from, and the route I’d taken to get to that point.  But he was able to point me in the right direction to get back home to Holderville.  A stranger was able to reassure me, and give me good advice.  I certainly appreciated the fate that put him in his garden that day.

I’ve been lost a lot in my life emotionally.  We all have times in our life when we are confused, lonely, and unsure of what direction our life is going in.  Relationships end, children grow up and don’t need us in the same ways they once did, we shift paths in our careers, bury family members and friends.  At these times we feel lost and unsure of where we are, and how we fit into the world we find ourselves in. 

Usually, this confusion works itself out eventually.  Not always the way we’d planned, or the way we might have wanted it to.  Sometimes, it goes on for a long time, and sometimes it leaves pain that lingers long after. 

But if we look back on the times we’ve felt so lost, we can realize that along the way, there were people there who helped us find our direction again.  It might be a stranger, like the old farmer on the back road, the person you ask directions for on a crowded city street, or the policeman in the underground station.  Or it might be a friend who turns into a valuable companion on your new journey.  One never knows when or from where the most important help will be offered.

As I’m writing this, there is a Jimmy Buffett song playing.  It talks about an older person recounting all the things he’s done in his life, quite a number of adventures, and the refrain states “and there is still so much to be done”.  What could sum this topic up better than that line?  I’m sure that in a lifetime of adventures, he was lost more than once.   That’s what our lives are, a lifetime of adventures and journeys.

Being lost is just another of life’s journeys.  Maybe if we try to look at getting lost as a journey of discovery, it might be an easier road to travel.  As the saying goes:  “It’s hard to see the forest for the trees”.   Sometimes we get too overwhelmed with where we are trying to go and the plans we’ve made, to forget that fate might have other ideas.  When lost, maybe we should fret less about finding our way, and take time to look around, and see what we might have otherwise never seen.  Maybe along the way, we will also find people we might never have met. 

Sometimes it is these people met only by a chance, a result of an unexpected, and even unwelcome turn in our life’s direction, that turn out to be the most important people we meet.  They can offer guidance, support, and friendship.  Maybe our time with them isn’t destined for as long as we might wish, but it is still valuable, and should be enjoyed.  God sends us angels in many different forms.   He leaves it up to us to accept His gifts. 

I give thanks to God for all the angels I have met along the way.  Some have remained in my life, while others have moved on.  I am sure that they are sharing their gift of friendship with other lucky people.  I pray that by sharing my friendship, and support to the fellow travelers I meet on life’s journey, both friends and strangers, that I am living my faith.  It’s a big world, sometimes lonely and frightening.  No one walks alone.  If they think that they do, all they need to do is look around.  God’s angels are everywhere.

God bless each and every one of us, God’s angels all.