The last Lost moment

I recently said a permanent goodbye to a good, old friend. After a six-year run, Lost went off the air with a flurry of smoke and heartfelt answers. It was an admittedly sad farewell for me. I'd watched Lost from the very first episode and had never missed one minute. Now, it's gone the way of all television shows. Eventually, like people, they all die.

I think that was the main idea of the whole show. Voiced by Chistian Shephard, a character we haven't seen in a while, Lost's message was clear, at least to me. Everybody dies sometime. Some before you, some after you. The trick is to enjoy the time you have with the people who mean so much to you while you're together. The most important time in your life is the time you spend with those people. Personally, I took it to mean my family, but it really could have been anyone. Life is real. Our time here on this island of life is real. The time we spend with them is of the utmost importance.

I've read some reviews of the finale that weren't very flattering. Questions were left unanswered. Timelines didn't jive. It was a cheap way to get out of the show. Sorry to say this reviewers, but you're all wrong. Not only that, but you missed the whole point of the show.

Lost was about characters. From the pilot they told us about the individuals. Some I liked and others I didn't, but it was always about them. Now that the show is gone, I miss them. I'll never see Jack or Kate or Sawyer or Hugo again, except in syndication. There will never be another new episode.

We're sometimes very lost in this real life. We meet people, characters, individuals. We come to know them. We learn to love them, despite their obvious flaws. Then, like an ethereal wisp, they're gone and we miss them. The time we spend with them here is the most important thing there is.

I'm reminded of what an ancient prophet on the American continent said many years ago. Said he, "...the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream.." I hope I never awake from this dream, for to me, at least, it's been a wonderful, pleasant and enjoyable ride. I've been lost from time to time and I've graduated from Hard Knocks U more than once. But one thing I can say...I do love life.

Hopefully, one day, I won't wake up to realize it's all only been a dream. Don't shake that snowglobe too hard. I want to stay asleep.

The Impenetrable Fight

Yea, it's been a while (2007). But I'm very motivated now to keep this blog up to date. A nephew and a niece both have blogs that they write in every day and it's kind of inspired me to get on the stick.

I'm sitting here looking out the window listening to Steppenwolf play Born to be Wild. There's a small, wild bird across the parking lot that is trying desperately to get into a car (he's sitting on the rear view mirror in the photo). He sits on the rear view mirror gathering his muster before trying to fly through the closed window, flitting his little wings as fast as they'll go while tapping his beak against the glass, before deciding, for a moment, that it can't be done. He then sits back down on the mirror until he's gathered his courage again, at which point he'll try it all over again. He's been doing it for hours.

I watched him yesterday with some interest, doing the same thing, only to get lost in the morass of details that is my job. Now he's back in the ring today, endeavoring with even greater zeal to enter a different car. I'm not sure why he's doing it. Maybe he sees himself in the window and is trying to protect his territory. Maybe he sees some good-looking bird food in there. Maybe he wants to go for a birdy ride. Whatever it is, I admire his determination.

I'd like to be more like that bird. Determined, wild and absolutely focused on his goal. Those are great traits to have in any endeavor. Sure, he's tilting against windmills, fighting a battle he'll never win, but fighting nonetheless.

Our war against evil is a little like that. Every day we have to fight, facing not only the adversary, but our own imperfections. I hope to one day have the fight that my little bird friend has, to fight hopelessly against a foe I can't see, for a reward I can't yet see, just because it's the right thing to do.