LOST AND FOUND

      I am betwixt and between today. Which lost and which found, as both themes are a boil in my mind. We all remember the lost and found area in school or camp. Mildewed items, items that had one wondering how the hell a child did not notice their being missing, and, of course, your lost item was never found! No matter how much your mom insisted you look. Some kind of obscure metaphysical algorithm of life! And then, not to forget that chief rummager who would come and sift, find a treasure of fashion, take it home triumphantly and claim a moral victory of some sort. Lost and found - and so much more.

Enter stage right. The reassurance of a character to another, that never would she ever be so lost that that the speaker would and could not find her. Always, she would be found. Heartwarming, true, but permit me a bit of cynicism here. This statement presumes that both sides of this 'lost' equation want there to be a finding, are open to it.

What if they are not? Wonder how and why? There are reams of books, gazillions of bytes explaining that - yet it never seems understandable, does it? But think of the lost out there, physically, emotionally. Those who have given up or as we used to say, dropped out. To be found is the last item on their wish list.

As sad as this is, there is a far more serious and concerning lost today - the lost society. These are huge groups of people who are missing some ingredient of sanity, of self control, of societal responsibility. People who have been fed a diet of entitlement and when that does not quite work out, well, hence the lost of the lost society. Particularly when unprincipled supposed leaders feed into this and voila! CPAC 2021.

How dangerously lost so much of America has become. How twisted and shattered of soul are those who would assume the mantle of leadership over this lost group? Looking at the sharp edged runic figures, the red and the black, and a modern day version of the Golden Calf, a hideous golden statue of Trump,  eerily reminiscent of Nazi display  and then wonder. Are we so lost that we turn to this yet again? Are we so lost that we willingly cede our dignity, our self control, out decency, our humanity and progress and recede into a toxic past? 

Lest you say that, 'oh, it can't happen here," well it already has. Children thrown in prison. Violence at parades, personality cult rather than patriotism and loyalty to a country. An extensive and ongoing attempt, a long range plan, to battle other Americans, to death if necessary, and destroy the underpinnings of this nation. January 6, 2021.

Logical next step? Suborn political figures and parade them in front of the nation - as we see in CPAC. As we watch in horror, our shoulders creep up to our ears and we wonder where our passports are? How liquid are our funds? Who might be left behind? Should we pull out the suitcases and pack the essentials? And indeed, is there any place to which to flee?

So think again of lost and found. We have lost so much. What has been found? Be aware. Be alert. Be afraid.