That which was lost…

It was a spacious summer afternoon, where the warmth seems to gently pour into every crevice and corner like glue, forming a bond between earth and sky.

While fueling up at El Monte’s Coffee Roasters in Chester NJ, Martha and I noticed a small group of ladies huddled at a table appearing to be looking for something. With drinks in hand we walked by them to the exit as a man was entering, holding up some keys in his right hand. Once outside, Martha wondered if the set of keys in the man’s hand was what the women at the table were speaking of as “lost”; she glanced back to watch the women inside the coffee shop acknowledging his “success”.

A delightful breeze welcomed us as we walked across the street and entered a park that we love to wander through. I suggested a route to take, and as we embarked we passed by a man with 2 dogs to the right of the walkway on the grass. We greeted him and then continued up the slight incline. At the top of the hill I asked Martha if we could sit for a few minutes as my legs felt weary (I had taken a long hike the previous day). We sat sipping our coffee when Martha noticed a woman walking up the hill towards us, seeming to be looking for something. She stopped about 50 feet before reaching us, and turned around and went back the other way. Martha told me, “I am praying that she comes back, and if so I am going to ask her what she lost.”

I remember sighing, quietly thinking that once again, Martha’s leaving me in the present. She is a 2 on the Enneagram, and can’t help but rush in to supply any perceived need. She must ask to take a photo for any couple or group struggling to take a “selfie” - a trait I both admire and get annoyed by.

Of course in a few minutes the woman Martha had prayed for walked back up the hill towards us, and this time Martha had the opportunity to chat with her. She had lost her eyeglasses while she and her husband (the man with the 2 dogs) had been walking around the park. She lamented that they were very expensive bifocal sunglasses. Martha asked her what route she had taken around the park, and the woman mentioned taking the center path down the hill and then back around, cutting the park in half.

After she moved on, I said to Martha, “Isn’t it interesting that inside of 5 minutes we run into 2 people who are looking for something they lost. I wonder if God is saying something to us?”

With my energy restored we continued on our way, looking for the lost eyeglasses as we walked. We reached the center path and headed down the hill to retrace the couple’s journey. Half way down her husband passed by on the way up; having put the 2 dogs in the car he was now joining the search. He could tell that we were now engaged in the search, and thanked us for it.

“Someone may have already found them and perhaps turned them in,” I told him. “If we happen to find them we will drop them off at the Publick House as we are having dinner there later; do you know where that is?”  He assured us he did, again thanking us and we continued on our ways.

The atmosphere of that afternoon had gently changed. Have you noticed how when you reach out to assist someone, even in a small way, there is a quiet satisfaction that springs up from within? It acts a bit like the accent lights that outline the trees and shrubs in a setting, enhancing the natural beauty of the landscape and buildings.

As Martha and I continued our journey, I began to pray out loud, asking the Lord if He was speaking to us through this whole incident, and then asking Him to help us to find the glasses. At that juncture the downhill path ended, and we could turn either right to head towards the Publick House or left to continue tracing the trail of the lost glasses. We decided to turn left, and just a few feet down the path was a park bench on the right. Nestled on the back of the bench, sandwiched between 2 boards I saw the pair of eyeglasses. Someone had evidently put them there hoping the owner would come back and find them.

Martha shouted across the field to their owner, who literally came running to us, ecstatic to have them back. She affectionately grabbed Martha’s arm in thanks, and then hollered to her husband that they were found.

As we continued on our walk, that trickle of joy continued to fill us. Finding them was such a small thing, but we both knew that something special had just happened. As we walked along in the golden hour of a late summer’s afternoon, we prayed into and processed what those moments of searching had meant. We had together assisted someone with their need. And together we heard the Lord’s words come as a gentle wave lapping over our souls:  “I am going to help you find for others that which is lost.”

We sighed and quietly drank in the moment, much like when two lovers meet, and Martha and I headed off to our next adventure.