Today's Gospel reading: Matthew 18:12-14.

I tend to lose things. In recent days, I have misplaced my keys, a music folder, my toque, and my PDA. They all eventually turned up, but in every case I found myself getting quite anxious while I did not know their whereabouts. The anxiety is of my own making -- I put things down in haste, often in unlikely places, and when I can't remember those odd places, I get angry at myself. It annoys my wife no end!

When I read how Jesus talks about losing one of the flock in the well-known image of leaving 99 sheep to go in search of the lost one, I find myself thinking about my own kind of loss-anxiety. Of course, Jesus is talking about people, and not something as seemingly trivial as a piece of head wear. (Although in the prairie climate at this time of year, head wear is not a trivial matter!)

People deal with loss every day, from small losses like car keys to big losses like deaths in the family. Every loss causes grief, and every person who strays from God's flock causes God grief.

Advent is a wonderfully appropriate season to seek out the lost and to call them back. We can use the season, over-commercialized as it is, to reach out to people with whom we've lost touch, whether in our church or in our family and friends.

Today, I'm going to send some Advent greetings to some people with whom I have lost touch. I invite you to do the same.

Post script to yesterday's entry:
Bruiser is doing much better. It appears he has a bad back, and the medication he is now on has had an almost immediate effect.