Archives: January 2009

Lost property

By Jo Stockdale

When I was younger my sister and I used to love going to Tesco with my mum. It was the perfect opportunity to play the game ‘Get Lost’. Don’t worry, we didn’t hurl insults at poor unsuspecting shoppers, the game simply involved trying to get lost.

So as mum pushed her trolley up and down the aisles we would do everything we could do lose her; hiding behind displays, going up the escalator to the Home ‘n’ Wear department, taking advantage of our size and the busyness of the shop by concealing ourselves between bodies and moving trolleys. A successful game was one where we managed not to be found until we appeared, as if from nowhere, as mum packed bags at the checkout. It was an hour or so of total fun.

But nowadays, getting lost, and being lost, isn’t such fun. Which is why, I presume, sat navs are selling so well. Having to pull over to the side of the road to consult a map is annoying. Going the wrong way when you’re meeting a friend is frustrating. Trying to find someone in a packed shopping centre is exasperating. And feeling lost in a crowd is a lonely and uncertain place to be.

And in many churches, where sometimes hundreds of people come through the door each Sunday, it’s all to easy to get lost, whether this is intentional or not. I know because I’ve been there. Week after week I would come to church, sit quietly by myself during the service then swiftly make my exit, thankfully pushed to the door that bit quicker by the madding crowd. For ages I resisted and ignored the plugs to ‘get involved’, ‘do a course and meet people’ and ‘join a small group’. I was happy to be invisible and I was managing to keep things that way quite successfully.

But I quickly learnt that if I wanted to stay lost I would have to suffer the consequences. Because as well as being pretty lonely, my faith soon became about just me and him. It was me and him Monday to Saturday and it was just me and Him on Sundays. It was in direct contrast to those I could see around me, who were making it about them and Him plus her, her, him, them and so on.