Lost and Found

Last Wednesday, I joined Greg, Lee, Sonja, Gary, Sandra and a host of fellow Americans who couldn't wait to see the season opener of the C.B.S. television hit "Lost" The show centers around the lives of the survivors of an airplane crash who have been marooned on a mysterious, if not supernatural, island. Each show will delve into two subplots: the mysterious nature of the island and the previous life of one of the survivors. Each episode is packed with adventure, suspense, mystery, and hope.

As I have considered each show, I realize that the name "Lost" is really quite misleading. While we all believe that they are "lost" on the mysterious island, I believe that they are more FOUND than ever. When the show examines the lives of these passengers, we discover that their lives were all at crisis or at the very least confused and misguided. Finding themselves upon this island, they begin a chance to start anew; they can be the people they always wanted to be. here, they can be heroic and noble, even if their previous lives were only shadows of the character they revealed upon the island. Even if the world has lost them, they have truly found themselves.

I am convinced that the reason I am attracted to the show has to do with this dramatic portrayal of becoming FOUND. I know that many of us have lives that, like those of the castaways, have become lost amid a flood of financial crises, political concerns, soul searching, and the business of everyday living.

The people of the Hartford First United Methodist Church are an excited family who have truly found ourselves even when our nation is searching to find our who we really are. The people of the HFUMC are a people who have found God's grace and call. We are a people who see life as an opportunity to live nobly heroically. We see the adventure, suspense, mystery, and hope that comes with the call of God upon our lives and church. We are committed to becoming a community of those who are found among the lives of those who are truly lost. We are united in our search to find the lost and help them find not only themselves, but also the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We want the lost to find the life we have found in the service of Jesus.

I have become a "Lost" addict. I really can't get enough of "Lost". It is my prayer that we won't be able to get enough of finding the lost in our community. Will you commit yourself to join me in the rescue search? You, too, were once like me and those folks on the island. "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see."