Lost and Found

Lost and Found

           It was a warm autumn day, and people gathered to celebrate with a couple who were committing their lives to one another. They filled the small college chapel and awaited the bride to be brought in to begin the ceremony. There were a couple brief delays, as often happens with weddings. First there was the true rumor that the bride forgot her veil, and the groom went to retrieve it. Next was an incident with a fabric steamer and the wedding dress - already wrapped around her. And finally, before the journey up the steps and down the first path of the marital journey, they were all awaiting the bride’s Uncle who was incorrectly rumored as wearing no pants. But instead, he brought the wrong pair of pants - jeans, in fact. At least, it gave rise to a smile that bode well in photo of that moment she walked toward her soon-to-be husband, patiently waiting her.. 

          That memory snippet was part of a day I cherish. It is some of what comes to mind when I see my wedding ring. Imagine my surprise when waking up this past Monday, and realizing after breakfast, that it was missing. In my mind, I replayed my steps from the evening before,and remembered walking to the kitchen after getting cleaned up, and retrieving it from a dish on the counter behind the sink area go-to spot other than my jewelry box. I realized I had not put it back on after doing yard work, when I was about to put lotion on my hands. I still, though, do not recall the act of slipping the ring back on my finger. I was not myself at the time, rather worn out. For the next twenty-four hours or more, I scoured every inch of the upstairs, thinking of any place it could be. At a certain point, I became mortified after nearly three decades of wearing it, with only the occasional removal for safekeeping. Later that day, after also becoming disturbed by areas in the house clearly needing vacuuming, I set off to make myself more useful for a bit, and taking my mind off things. I started in the back bedroom and was praying to God about showing me where the little treasure was, in the timing best-suited to me. I got to the last spot to complete that room, and a horrific clanging began coming from the bottom of the vacuum - as if the machine were coming apart. I quickly turned it off and raised the bottom, and there was my wedding ring! Relief and joy filled my heart, yet I also realized it is more to me than merely a symbol of our love; it’s a circle encompassing one of the hands that is part of cherished memories. We chose the rings together. We chose the date we wanted to start our life together. We chose where we would go first on a honeymoon. It was a big part of the history we started as a couple, following a sordid past of starts and stops before we ever exchanged those rings. It was us coming full circle to what was clearly our destiny in God’s will, six years after we met. And so I will remember this added bit of the story - all over again in years to come - the joy of finding that precious symbol of two lives becoming one. 

 “Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?  And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep..’  I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:3-7 NIV)

“Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:9-10 NIV)

“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.” (1Chronicles 28:9 NIV)

 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one.. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’  In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:8-10 NIV)

“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed,  then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:8-12 NIV)