My notes from 2019 tell me that I was slightly lost at one point on day 14 of the End to End. One of the things people do ask about the walk is ‘Did you ever get lost?’ or ‘How many times did you get lost?’ I suggest those who ask the first question have more faith in my route finding abilities than those who ask the second.
But was I lost? Had I just mistaken the route or found a different easier or better one? Was the route it self poorly signed or not clearly marked on my map? Had someone else tampered with the signs or put up a barrier? Can you see where I’m going with this?
In common with a large slice of humanity, getting lost was not my fault. If it was an error it was made by someone else, or at the very least it was a happy mistake I could readily learn from, looking back, and not repeat, going forward. Or so the common narrative of our times goes.
I find it interesting that ‘lost’ has it’s place on the negative side of our language use: we get lost when high emotions reigns: lost in anger, grief or depression, lost in loneliness and of course loss of control. We can be lost in our dreams but there’s no doubt on the whole that our social use of language works in such a way that it conveys the notion it’s better not to be lost.
Occasionally, I’d go ‘off piste’. These were often fun times; I met a bull in a farmyard having a snack, I clambered over some branches blocking a path, I’d check out a well or spring or climb something to get a better view, see a plant or flower I’d not seen before or follow a butterfly until it settled. After all I had 113 days to go and surely getting lost was all part of it.
From the remembered gospel
Afterwards, looking back, they said ‘Do you remember when he was with us on the road…’
Companion Christ, with us on the long road,
Help us face the positive and negative emotions of these days;
may we be honest when our thoughts or actions impact on others.
It can be a challenge to share empathy at a distance;
may your spirit inhabit our desire to connect with those lost in whatever life currently brings.
Bring us on with you, through the highs and lows,
to see the meadows, the high streets, the factories again,
bursting with life both expected and unexpected,
lived out in the name of Jesus.
Amen
15.04.2020 JAL in Longdendale.