Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Written for the May 2007 update from my time in Camden, NJ.
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Not all who wander are lost.
-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

This little statement has been the theme of my month. Each day seems to bring with it a new degree of randomness, but I’ve long believed that in God’s world, there are no coincidences. Let me explain…

For one, there’s Phillip. Phillip is a crazy Kenyan that used to be an intern for Urban Promise and now divides his time between working in a nursing home and with a church youth group. We first met him when he showed up at our door after 10:00 on a Saturday night back in March. He asked if he might come in and talk to us, and as weird as it was, we welcomed him in. For the next half hour, Phillip shared with us stories of his time at Urban Promise, borrowed a Bible and read us an encouraging verse, borrowed a guitar and played for us a song he’d written, and prayed for us. We were pretty impressed for never having met the guy before.

Since then, Phillip has been a regular – though still unpredictable – part of our lives. He has a knack for showing up right when we’re putting food on the table; he’s been here three times now when we’ve had other guests for dinner. The thing about Phillip is he’s not ashamed. He’s not ashamed to knock on our door and crash a party, and he’s not ashamed of the gospel. When we had the crew from the community development firm where Brent works over one night, Phillip was uncharacteristically quiet for much of the meal. Then, just at the critical juncture, he courteously asked, “Where do you think poverty in Camden comes from?” Bam! Before we knew what’d happened, untold testimonies were being poured out, fears and faiths were being revealed, and the conversation had become beautifully centered on God.

There have been other examples, though I don’t have space to mention them here, of strange events that have led me to find spiritual wisdom in the most unexpected places and people. Camden is a living example of Tolkien’s adage – I am no longer surprised to find God among the weak, the wanderers, and the outcasts. Heck, I myself am one of them! I have spent much of this month pacing back and forth between plans for next year: Should I stay? Should I go home? Should I dance? How much? I feel confused and unguided. I’m growing to understand, though, that the Holy Spirit likes to work this way. As long as we leave a back door open, he’ll walk right in, uninvited, and turn everything we thought we knew completely upside-down. Our flexibility gives him room to work. I’ve also started to see that a lot of people who think they have it all
figured out don’t. God prefers those who doubt, seek, wait and wander to those who sit and gloat that they’ve found the answers and have everything they need. He says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In the end, he wants to be the one to satisfy us, to fill us up – he needs us to wander so that he can lead us home.