“Lost as a he-haint in high weeds.”
I have used it before, and it still applies. Some people are that lost. For you folks that don’t speak with an Alabama accent, a “he-haint” is a male ghost. And a male ghost in a corn field, or a field with high weeds, is very lost!
Before GPS, most men would refuse to stop and ask for directions. It is in our genetic coding. Our brides would demand that we stop at the sketchy-looking convenience store and ask for directions.
Our universal response was, “Honey, I think I recognize that water tower and I know where I am.”
After another hour of being lost, the exasperated wife would demand we stop. She would walk into the same sketchy-looking convenience store and ask for directions.
With the advent of GPS technology, men don’t need to ask for directions. Now we are never lost. If there is a problem, we blame it on that nice British woman speaking through our GPS. Google is infallible, right?
I do like to make my GPS lady mad by not following her directions. She will tell me to make a “legal U turn” or she will woefully offer the words, “recalculating.”
The notion of a male being lost for all eternity is both sad and humorous. Maybe that’s what a ghost is, a person who refuses to ask for directions on their journey to the pearly gates. They will eventually catch on to the fact that it is OK to ask for directions and go on to eternal bliss.
If you see someone who is lost, what should you do about point them in the right direction? Do you have an obligation to warn them that they are lost?
With all this technology in automobiles, how can anyone be lost?
The other day I was doing a wedding in Simsboro. It is a nice new wedding venue. I programmed my car to get me there. The car did a great job of making sure I arrived on time.
As I left the wedding, I looked at the car map. According to my car, I was driving in the middle of nowhere. I was not on a road, nor was I headed in a direction. I wondered how long it would be before my vehicle would correct the navigation system oversight. It was amusing because the wedding was over.
What if the same thing happened as I was headed to the wedding? Heading to the wedding and being lost would have been a most unpleasant experience. Being lost is a matter of destination and the perspective of time. Let me ask you three questions about your life journey.
In life’s journey, where are you? Where are you headed? Do you have a nagging feeling that you might have lost your way?
Spiritually, how you do recalculate the journey?
When you are lost, how do you “get found?”
I think the question has a spiritual dimension and an answer involving Jesus.
The truth is He’ll leave the ninety-nine and go looking for the one that is lost.