LOST: The call

Locke: "Why do you find it so hard to believe?" Jack: "Why do you find it so easy?" Here is a short clip from one of the special features that will be on the LOST DVD release August 24 (I cannot WAIT!!). Take a look and then let's talk a little: As many of you know, I think LOST was the the pinnacle of television as an art form. In fact, if it weren't for football, we might could throw the dang things away now that it's over. (Well, maybe not - I get carried away.) It is a story full of mystery, but ultimately it was about people and thus it has themes throughout that are close to God's heart...a point eloquently articulated here: Why LOST Matters. Please take time to read it.

The clip above starts with this quote from Damon Lindelof: "The thing that resonates in the hero's journey...is this idea of 'the call'."

Out of the many themes in the show, this is one of my favorites. The idea that characters (and more specifically Jack) had something that they were called to do. You can resist it, you can deny it, you can try to run from it, but ultimately you have a decision to make: will you do what you were created to do?


Jonah faced this same choice. In fact, the parallels between Jonah and Jack Shephard are startling. Both found themselves drawn to a calling. Both resisted....angrily. Both ran from it, as far as possible, but in doing so their lives fell apart. They could run no longer and they finally did what they were called to do.


What is your call? What is it that God created you specifically for? Have you been running from it? Do you feel empty? For me, I know that he has called me to pour myself into teenagers through YoungLife. And recently he has distinctly called me to be a voice for children in Africa, and do what I can to make a difference in their lives. I can run from those things. And yes, despite the expression, I can even hide. But ultimately, you would hear me crying out in desperation with Jack Shephard, "We have to go back!"


I leave you with the words of Steven Curtis Chapman:

"We will abandon it all for the sake of the call.
No other reason at all but the sake of the call.
Wholly devoted to live and to die for the sake of the call."


What is your call?