The other day I was thinking about that moment when you DISCOVER A LOSS… emotions are in free fall… no solid ground … thinking becomes chaotic… you get the picture, I’m sure.
I was in the Phoenix airport hurrying to catch a plane to Omaha. It had BEEN A LONG DAY, starting in TUCSON where Katherine and I had been ‘standbys’. Kath had gotten the last seat on an early flight. We decided I would catch up later. But the next 3 or 4 flights were full… NO SEATS.
I decided to take a shuttle bus to PHOENIX, and try my luck. That would be a couple of hours drive, at least, since I had to take a city bus to downtown TUCSON to catch it. BUT I FINALLY MADE IT TO PHOENIX. A ticket agent gave me some STANDBY DOCUMENT, and I stopped at an ELECTRONIC KIOSK to get a security pass. Now I’m hurrying to catch a plane.
THEN IT HAPPENED!! I discovered my WALLET WAS NOT IN MY POCKET. I stopped dead, got on my knees, not to pray, but to check my brief case. Hundreds of people are veering around me. IT’S NOT THERE!!! PANIC… “BE CALM”, half of me says, “EASY FOR YOU TO SAY”, says the other half… All the MICKEY MOUSE I’d have to go through: NEW DRIVERS’ LICENSE, CREDIT CARDS, INSURANCE, SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE CARDS, ETC. ETC. I retrace my steps as fast as I can.
By some miracle MAYBE THE COUNTER PERSON has it. PLEASE. LORD!! NO!! I suddenly remember!! … THE ELECTRONIC TICKET MACHINE. I make a beeline… A thousand people between me and those machines. I PUSH MY WAY THROUGH. The sea of humanity parts…
I AM TEN STEPS AWAY. A fellow is servicing the one next to my target. Now FIVE STEPS… He moves slightly to the left… I can see the shelf in front of the machine… THERE IT IS!!! MY WALLET!!! I can’t believe it… just where I had left it – 15 MINUTES AGO. ABSOLUTE JOY, EUPHORIA TAKES HOLD. “THANK YOU, LORD, THANK YOU” is the refrain in my head. I feel COMPELLED TO TELL SOMEONE… to share this joy… like the woman in the Bible who found the lost coin and had to tell the neighborhood… There’s the guy fixing the next machine. I tell him what happened. There are still some honest people in the world”, he says. I say, “PRAISE GOD”. “Why?”, he says. “FOR WHAT YOU JUST SAID”, I say. I hurry off to catch my plane.
Jesus said there’s JOY AMONG THE ANGELS when one of us lost sinners is found. I CAN ONLY BEGIN TO IMAGINE.