On "Lost"--Many Thanks!

Gentle reader, night before last, I found the experience of the final episode of Lost very emotional--the lessons of love (portrayed by a talented and appealing cast) of the deep and caring attachments formed between and among the characters in the story were a real affirmation of love and devotion that, for me, was poignant and touching and put the offerings of ordinary TV fare to shame. For that experience, I am eternally grateful.

But then, I experienced a larger, greater insight. A sudden revelation came to me and I saw Lost mirroring something to me about life that I could not see alone, something that I already knew but did not really comprehend. In a blink, I grasped that for each of us life can seem doable, and then some catastrophic disturbance occurs and nothing is ever the same again: a plane crash, a disease, a hurricane, an abusive parent, an earthquake, 9/11, a Gulf Oil spill, immoral business practices, man's inhumanity to man, war injuries, any number of things, all routinely implode upon our world. And we find ourselves frantically scrambling to avoid being crushed underfoot by dueling forces infinitely greater than ourselves and of fearsome proportions, forces clearly recognizable as forces of good and evil. Six seasons of drawn-out human suffering, turmoil and struggle on Lost gelled at that moment into a metaphor for how protracted, how slow and agonizing discovering elusive truth can really be.

Part of the difficulty in discovering truth, dear reader, is that each of us being the center of our own universe we tend to falsely define and obstruct our vision of the larger reality around us. We just don't know we are doing that until the sweep and spectacle of forces beyond our control, unleashed and wreaking havoc all about us is beyond denial.

My new appreciation for the assist of Lost in understanding a confusing existence, quickly morphed into exasperation. How would I continue to grapple with life's sharp edges without the determined, inspirational, and heroic struggle of these characters, a struggle against impossible odds, to encourage and enlighten me?

That thought made me angry. How could the creators of this show so glibly refer to it as mere entertainment, so miss the meaning behind the entertainment that they would blithely call it a wrap and abandon me? How could they leave me alone to navigate the perilous straits of the human predicament? Other viewers like myself were bound to feel betrayed too, I surmised, and rightly so, I believe.

Then I thought--in one vivid nanosecond--leave me though Lost may, fail me though its creators may, Jesus is going to be there for me. He promised. I felt my concern evaporate, literally dissolve away. And I let understanding enlarge in my mind and steady me: yes, He promised all who turn to him that He will be with us always until the ends of the earth, and throughout eternity--to buffer us through it all. I thought those thoughts, split seconds before the scene appeared on the screen where a statue of Jesus Christ of Nazareth with outstretched arms stands outside a church.

I must tell you, the scene and the timing took my breath.

I wondered if the directors knew, had any idea, what that statue implied to me.

Then the scenes raced on. Not until the return of Jack to the church, and the reappearance of the statue, and the end of the show did I finally conclude with certainty that Lost indeed did mean to say something very close to what I had registered in my thoughts about Jesus: Life is beyond our comprehension and control but not beyond His. Jesus rescues and transforms. Count on it.

And with that climactic understanding (that Lost was agreeing with me, was pointing all of us to the satisfaction and great hope offered in Christ Jesus) came assurance and content. Well done, Lost! I thought. You have left us all with solid comfort. You have indisputably pointed out a great truth. You have fearlessly endorsed our magnificent solution in Jesus and you have been brave and bold to do so, especially to advance these truths in a secular media and a pluralistic society. Well done!

And suddenly I saw Lost as due many and varied thanks, thanks for making critical truths vividly real to me and one and all. Thanks for storytelling that made it clear that when born into a fallen human existence, one is born into the middle of a raging battle that does not end, will not end, until a final showdown occurs between forces outside ourselves--between the forces of good and evil--a showdown that draws all events to their close in preparation for a new beginning. Thanks for showing that death is "moving on" and that the thereafter for each of us will depend on how we choose to die--aligned with good or evil--in the arms of Jesus or the clutch of evil.

So many thanks and goodbye, my Lost friends. You have my profound and unending gratitude for your company over the years and your priceless contribution to better understanding the truth in the precious words "I was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see."