“Suppose someone among you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them. Wouldn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the pasture and search for the lost one until he finds it? And when he finds it, he is thrilled and places it on his shoulders. When he arrives home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes both heart and life than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to change their hearts and lives. – Luke 15:4-7 (CEB)
For Father’s Day, I went blueberry picking. I had not actually intended to pick too many, but we ended up needing to pick twelve pints. We had gone to a farm to buy some raspberry bushes that Wendolyn wanted, and I noticed that they had pick-your-own blueberries. When we asked about it, we learned that they had a flat fee for up to 12 pints. With three of us there, that meant picking 4 pints apiece, which took a while.
While picking, inevitably some ripe berries accidentally fall to the ground. Sometimes it is possible to pick them up, but not always. Sometimes they roll away or bounce out of sight or for some other reason cannot be retrieved. Each and every time that happens, I feel sad about it. Wendolyn and I were joking how even after an hour of picking and several pints into the process, each small perfectly good berry rolling away was a cause for sadness. In some sense, it is absurd. With all of the berries out there in the field, one berry getting away does not mean very much. Economically, the cost per berry is almost inconsequential. Yet it is sad nonetheless. Eventually it occurred to me that in terms of a guide to living life well, a decent aspiration is to always savor the deliciousness of freshly picked berries (with blueberries, what a couple of hours for them to get to full flavor though!) and to always be saddened by the berries that are dropped. Feeling that joy and that sadness is a pretty good indicator of having a healthy and wide emotional range that is tuned in to the details of life. If the goal of life is efficiency, this is an absurd standard. If the goal is empathy and openness to world, though, then such a goal is worthwhile.
Jesus makes clear that efficiency is not God’s mode of operation. Statistically in the universe each one of us is insignificant, and yet God takes great joy in each of us. God is saddened as we roll away, yet takes great joy in gathering us back. I don’t want to make the connection to blueberries too close, as I don’t think God intends to eat us, but the joy and sadness at least is comparable. We are the lost coin, the lost sheep, the blueberry that rolls away; God rejoices in saving us.