Lost?

We weren’t lost. No, really we weren’t. We weren’t lost because we could see where we needed to go. But we weren’t sure where we actually were. Sounds odd, doesn’t it? We weren’t lost, but we didn’t know where we were! It’s absolutely true. We were on Anglesey, on Holyhead Mountain. It’s the only mountain on Anglesey. The rest of Anglesey is flat! But we, Lisa and I, being the intrepid mountaineers we are, were on the mountain. From Holyhead Mountain you can see everything, even Snowdon on a good day! We were on a walk around the mountain which took us to the top (obviously), but also to the lighthouse (that we didn’t pay to walk around as we had no cash on us - there are still places that only take cash) and around the headland. On the way back, having conquered the peak, we followed what we thought to be the correct path. But the further we went along the path, the more we thought that it somehow wasn’t correct! The were things the book told us we should be able to see, we couldn’t! And yet we were on the mountain heading in the right direction. It didn’t make any sense. There couldn’t be a path closer to the sea than the one we were on, because we could see the sea. Unless…We found our way down because we could see where we wanted to be and we could see where we were aiming for. And because we met a man walking his dog who showed us the quickest way to where we wanted to go! We were never lost, but it turns out there was a another path closer to the sea that we had somehow missed. We never worked out how we missed it, but we did. The path we found ourselves on got us to where we had parked the car. We had a lovely walk, even if it was slightly longer than the book said…but then the book didn’t help us..! My journey of faith feels like that walk right now: I’m on a path I didn’t anticipate which is taking me in a different direction to the one I once thought I was on. But I’m not lost. There are things I find challenging about the path I’m on, and sometimes it seems very confusing, misleading and frustrating. But, I have no real option but to keep walking this path. On this path I might need some help from someone who knows this path better than me, someone who might say to me, like the man walking his dog on Holyhead Mountain: “Follow me, I’m going that way!” Other people will look at me and think I’ve lost my way because I’m not on the path they think I should be. I’m not on the same path they are. The might even think I’m lost. I’m not lost. Really, I’m not. I’m growing in faith in ways I never thought possible. Yes, it brings it’s challenges. Yes, it’s sometimes confusing. Yes, I sometimes wonder how I ended up where I am, but I’m not lost. And the God who waits and watches over me, has become more present with me on my journey of faith. That’s not a statement about God, but a statement about how my faith has grown as my understanding of God has grown. God is bigger and better than he’s ever been. It turns out that this new path is a great path to be on, one on which God has met with me in new and different ways. I simply need the courage to keep walking it. It might take me in ways I’m not expecting, but I’ll never be lost.