Lost And Found

Some of us have a spiritual life journey that is like "Lost and Found" departments.  At some point we are completely lost, though we might not even know it.  As a child in a department store shopping with my Mom, I wandered away from her but did not know that I was getting lost.  I was not paying attention.  I willfully did what I wanted and went where I wanted to go.  Then I discovered that I was lost. I cried.  I panicked.  I could not find my Mom on my own.  I needed help.  Eventually, I was found.  So it is on the spiritual path.  I am on the path as a child.  Then I get willful.  I become all about me.  I wander off into people and situations and practices that seem good at the time, but prove to be a disaster.  I then realize I am lost.  I need help from someone(s).  I listen to them.  I let them lead me and eventually I have a newfound God.  Maybe God lets me get lost so that I will appreciate the journey back and the community that helps me.  Anyway, I prefer to be found rather than lost, but I was one who had to do it the hard way.