Sabbath Devotional :: Being Unmoored and the Lost Sheep

anchor - Mormon Women for Ethical Government — .

I have always loved anchors — the symbolism and the idea of being anchored to something. Of having something that will keep us secure despite all the winds and tempests. But lately, the word “unmoored” has been echoing in my head more and more.

Unmoored means “not or no longer attached to the mooring.” A mooring is the chains or other material that keeps a boat securely fastened to the dock. (And that’s the extent of my very rudimentary shipping knowledge.) But in many ways, “unmoored” is a perfect word for the feeling I, too, often feel creeping in. And I see it reflected in those around me.

We know what should be our anchor — a belief in Christ “maketh an anchor to the souls of men [and all children of God], which would make them sure and steadfast” (Ether 12:4). I believe this is true. And yet, it can be so very easy to feel unmoored or unanchored. Especially this year. Especially after the last several years. It’s so easy to feel that the storms are doing their very best to dislodge that anchor or significantly weaken it. Or that while we’ve been anchored in place, somehow everybody else is anchored in some other place, and we can’t reach them because there is a vast ocean between us.

In this year of isolation and the proceeding years of political strife, a lot of our anchors have proven not strong enough for the storms that have come. And more of us may feel more and more unmoored or disconnected spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally, philosophically, and, yes, politically. Sometimes even from our own families and closest friends in deeply painful ways. But one anchor, if we let it be so, is up to the test through all of that. And that anchor is a deep connection with Christ.

Similarly, I hear a lot of people who feel like the lost sheep, but maybe not in the ways we traditionally think. (See Matthew 18:10-14.) The parable is pretty straightforward. One sheep goes astray from the flock and needs to be rescued by the Good Shepherd. And while I do believe that is the clear interpretation of this, I think that with a few modifications to the story, many of us may feel like the lost sheep. Not because we’ve wandered from the Shepherd but because we feel the flock has wandered away from us or perhaps even purposely left us behind, and that the reason we’re not with the flock is that perhaps we feel the flock doesn’t have space for us anymore — perhaps we’ve even been told as much. And that can be a very lonely place to be.

But just like in the story, I have faith that the Lord will find us and still carry us on his shoulders if we let him. Even for those who do struggle to feel moored and connected right now, the Lord will find us — no matter why we’re outside of the flock or feel the flock has left us behind. And even in the midst of unrelenting storms, Christ is always willing to be our anchor and to help us feel moored. And if our anchor doesn’t feel strong enough or up for the task, the Lord, if we let him, will help us make it stronger.