LOSTLAND
I thought I might be stuck there forever… I’m not sure how I even got there to begin with, but once there, it seemed there was no way out. It felt like being the main character in the song Hotel California by the Eagles.
I felt at home there, I fit right in… Although I just stopped for a look around like a tourist, I ended up staying for a long time.
The interesting thing about that place is one can never overstay their welcome. A person can stay as long as they like, after all it doesn’t seem to cost anything. Another fascinating fact about that place is that no matter how many people show up, there is always room for one more and the more the merrier. At least that’s what the people who run the place lead us to believe.
Life slips behind you in a hurry while living in that place. Most of the people there get so involved and comfortable they never think to leave or if they do can’t find the strength to. My guess is that many of us have been there, at least slowed down to look around as we cruised through. Some like me may have actually stopped, got out for a look around. Next thing we knew we were full-time residents.
That place, while mostly invisible, is very real. I know, I was there for years. Oh sure, I like everyone else was living in the same location physically then as I am now, but there is a place in this world where our hearts and minds go, usually out of curiosity or lack of self-discipline, and end up staying for years… Some for a lifetime…
That place is lost in our flesh, through body, spirit, and a constant mindless numbing. That place seems to bury any thought of purity or self-control. That place scoffs at God and the afterlife as if it were a fairytale. That place spins real fairy tales as fact and natural facts as fantasy.
In the city of the lost they teach everyone that they are like gods, becoming more and more enlightened. Over time in Lostland they begin to trust only in the senses of their flesh. Soon even with eyes that can see and read, they can’t comprehend the words that prove they are exactly like the lost people from the beginning of time.
With all the evidence of history, they prove to be even more lost than the founders and charter members of their chosen home in Lostland.
For those of us who have dug our way out from Lostland know that the spiritual place we were stuck in can only be broken by the all omnipotent spirit of God. His guiding light is the way out from Lostland.
As former residents of that unholy place, we realize that the fight to get out has left scars. Like the place itself, the scars can’t be seen with the naked eye, but we still feel them. There is burned residue left by the poison of that unholy place.
For the ones of us that aren’t residents of Lostland, it is our job to warn the others on the highway that passes through that place, and for the others trapped there, we need to shine His guiding light upon them so that they may find their way out. It is not a place anyone should call home.
The price to get in may seem reasonable…
Right up until they realization that the cost of admission is their soul…
Pat Bowling
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 @ 9:45 am
Speaking as one who was born and raised in Lostland, and who was doomed to spend the rest of her life there – I love this, Floyd. I remember every street, every corner, every face. When you are born in Lostland, it is all you know – it is “normal”. Everyone you know is just like you, living like you, thinking like you, acting like you. You don’t realize there is a whole other world, a whole other life on the other side of the walls. I am thankful for God’s Spirit who sought me out and called me by name. I praise Him for His hand of protection and for His unconditional love, grace, and neverending mercy. I, too, bear the scars of Lostland. Today they serve as a reminder of where I came from, something I never want to forget because it humbles me. It takes me back to the cross and the night I fell on my knees and asked Jesus to deliver me out of Lostland and into the land of the living.
I hope you don’t mind if I share this with our youth. It is beautifully written; an excellent picture of what is spoken of so often in Proverbs. Well done my brother!
Floyd
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 @ 10:15 am
Thanks Pat, I’d be honored for you to share this with people that might gain any kind of God instilled wisdom.
Interesting, you’re the second person that has had a similar reaction. I have many posts that never see the light of day because I think they aren’t up to par. This was almost one of them. Maybe I need to listen to God and not my worthless intellect?
Bt
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 @ 6:19 pm
This writing touches the inner well being of every person on earth. It’s my favorite of all your writings that I’ve read to date. Your friend Pat recounted her delemna of not understanding what “normal” meant until she asked God for guidance. I recall a question asked by a prof in college … “does a falling tree in the forest make a sound if no one is there to hear it fall?” The same question can be asked … “does a person know that they are in Lostland if all around them appears normal?” How does one know… if everything and everyone around them resides is in Lostland?” Today’s society makes one wonder how many live in Lostland by choice or are not in the forest to hear the tree falling? Your post would be a great class project to debate. And maybe the question that must be answered if humanity is to survive. Bt
Floyd
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 @ 9:39 pm
Wow! Knowing you like readers can’t, this is a huge compliment. I respect and admire your thoughts and words. I really feel like you have so much to offer the world. You have wisdom that astounds me. The analytical mind mixed with wisdom you’ve been blessed with continues to amaze me. The guest blog offering is still open to you my friend. Thanks for your time and comments.
Hazel
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 @ 6:30 pm
Your story quickens to the core. Lost and don’t know it, now that is something. It takes a very bright light of Truth to illuminate the fact that there is a way out and it is the ONLY way out, and that is JESUS. May we ever hold that light high for all to see and never hide it under a basket.
Floyd
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 @ 9:42 pm
Well said my friend. It seems this post has for some reason brought out the wisdom in all of the more wise among us!
His light is all we need… To see, search for, and hold high… If that’s what we were born for, I couldn’t think of a more worthy calling…
Voni
Thursday, October 27, 2011 @ 10:01 am
My college roommate and I used to call it Avohkado (something to do with an avocado metaphor I don’t remember now. We thought we were very wise and understood the world.) I didn’t know then it was Lostland, but it was. So grateful to have discovered the truth of where I was.
Bt makes an excellent argument for why we need to appeal to the hearts and minds of those around us. They can’t see their lostness if they feel “normal”. I remember my dad, working at a girls’ school at the time, would occasionally bring a teenager home for a weekend, just to remind them (or show them for the first time) what normal family life was like. May those lost around us see Christ in us, so they may see what “normal” really is and feel the gentle hand of His abiding love and forgiveness.
Blessings,
Voni
Floyd
Thursday, October 27, 2011 @ 11:40 am
Thanks Voni, you were blessed indeed. I agree, we need to shine our light of love on those in Lostland. It’s too easy to judge and condemn them, in the end that’s what pushes them further into their life. Avohkado… Leave it to kids huh?
Effie-Alean Gross
Thursday, October 27, 2011 @ 11:11 pm
As an English teacher, I’d like to say that my first reaction to your post is that it kept the reader in suspense. However, the more important aspect is the true core of meaning. You never mentioned “sin” or “backsliding,” but all of the implication is there. For readers who can relate to the pit of misery, you don’t need to spell out the names or titles. You’ve done an excellent job here, Flyod! Spritually, the Light of our Lord is the only way out of a prodigal lifestyle. The Father rejoices over the wayward son/daughter coming home to Him. Such love, mercy and grace!
Floyd
Friday, October 28, 2011 @ 6:51 am
Thanks Effie, well said, “the prodigal lifestyle.” I appreciate your kind words Effie. You’re too kind…
Nancy
Sunday, October 30, 2011 @ 6:18 pm
Here I come a little late the party – but here nonetheless!
O so agree with the part about exchanging the truth for a lie – even though you did not actually state it a such.
Via one wrong decision, even a Christian can steer off course and find himself in waylaid in Lostland. “Rationalization” appears to be the name of one of those roads. “Oh it’s not such a bad show”; “I hardly ever do anything, so this one time shouldn’t be so bad”…
But . . . the good news is that a person can come back home again! The street called “Ungoverned Passions” keep us from “The Way.” However the path known as “Contrite Heart” will lead us to a place where we don’t cast away our confidence any longer, but we are content to wait for our great recompense of reward. After enduring and waiting there just a bit, doing God’s will, we receive The Promise. The Holy Spirit will help us stay steadfast and focused so we can keep traveling correctly and bypass the unholy detours of deception.
Floyd
Sunday, October 30, 2011 @ 6:57 pm
Nancy that was absolutely an amazing comment. I urge you to turn that one into a post for your site. You have the makings of a really deep and instructional analytical story that I would love to read. Thanks for sharing. Really good stuff.