Why I still Love Lost

So we’ve just ended the fifth season of the masterfully created, JJ Abrahms conceived, ABC hit drama “Lost” and with one more season left, I continue to find myself drawn to the story and the characters that have made the show so great. If you haven’t watched the show, I don’t have enough words allowed in this posting to go into detail on the shows’ plot, characters or episodes. If you are the least bit curious, I’d simply recommend renting the series from the very first episode and see if you want to stay along for the ride. If you don’t like the show, good for you. I’m sure a nice Hallmark original or Lifetime movie is just waiting for you to pick it up. Not that the show is necessarily for the faint of heart. You need to be ok with human drama, a bit of sci-fi, and ridiculous and sometimes ill-concieved plot twists. But rest assured, it’s worth it. Enough of the setup…

We are all flawed …

For those of you who know and have watched the show. You know that, unlike traditional literature of old, “Lost” breaks the mold a bit. The characters (much like in X-Men comics for instance) are all flawed. They’re all flawed so much that by the end of this season, the lines are so blurred, you are not sure who the protagonist and the antagonists are anymore. I guess I like that because it’s a nice dose of real life. While we all envision ourselves on one side of the line or the other, I think the Gospel more clearly helps us understand that we spend our days being both the hero and the villain minute by minute. What helps us separate the good guys from the bad guys eventually is that (similar to the Gospel), the characters who end up the heros, are those who have found ways to accept their limitations, to acknowledge their mistakes (not necessarily always with words) and to are typically focused on thinking about the welfare of the others in their care often above their own needs or desires.

Our story reveals a deeper insight to our character…

The characters in Lost are each introduced to us in the early seasons by back-stories of their life before the plane crash (oops.. sorry for the spoiler.. yes.. alright.. so it’s about a plane crash). The show allows us to create some ideas, many of them – false conceptions as we learn about what made them the way they are. I remember how much I hated “Sawyers’ character on the show early on, because of his arrogance and selfishness, but once we learn about the “how” he became who he was and the bigger picture, it allowed me to empathize with his agony over the wounds that helped to mold those traits in him. How often do I make quick judgements about people in the store, on the street, in my church, at my work or even in my own family where I’ve failed to take the time to understand their circumstances? Jesus loved to demonstrate how to love the unloveable. He took time to speak with the woman at the well and to know her, and he loved her despite her sin, because he understood what was behind the shame. I don’t know about you, but I want to know that kind of compassion and empathy.

We need Absolute Direction…

The main tactical issue that the “Lost” survivors face is that their physical absolute direction is broken. Literally the magnetic energy from the island’s core makes compasses fail to work. In parallel we see the principal characters each driven by a sense of their own idea of what the right way, or what their purpose is. The reality is, they are all so confused and try as they may to rectify their circumstances, (because they can’t agree on a physical, emotional or even geographical direction) they have remained “Lost” for more than 5 seasons. What does that say about our own hearts? What does that say about our own tolerance of western relativistic dogma that “What’s right for you, might not be right for me?” We need a compass that works. Something that we can all clearly agree is pointing in the right direction. Sorry to cram the metaphor down your throat, but you get my point.

Though I’m a Christian, I’m still a deeply flawed, overly judgmental and often day by day directionless and a forgetful “survivor”. But… fortunately I do have a compass that works. Do I look at it often? Do I trust that even though there’s a gigantic chasm between where I am and where it’s pointing to, that it’s still going to lead me home? Not always. But ironically the more I rely on it, the closer I get to where I need to be.

PS – For those of you who I confused on the whole “Compass” analogy. The “Compass” = Jesus/ the Bible / the Holy Spirit… alright. Sheesh!

Josh Hogan