Column: Rugby Baptist Minister reflects on the inevitability of losing things - and the joy of finding them again

I cannot find my car key. Again. Nor can I find my mobile. It is a miracle that I have found the laptop I am typing this on.

All this will come as no surprise to anybody who knows me.

Some years ago, and based on lots of experience in losing things, I formulated ‘David's three universal laws of loss’.

They are not as profound as Newton's laws, but they are no less true. Here they are:

Law 1: the more important something is, the more likely it is to be lost. That is why you are more likely to mislay your passport than a recipe for tomato soup.

Law 2: The more urgent something is, the more likely it is to be lost. Therefore, you are almost certain not to be able to find your diary when an important client is on the phone trying to set up a meeting. (in my case, I once could not find my car keys when my wife went into labour....).

Law 3: The more public your humiliation, the more likely your loss. Or put another way: the longer the queue, the more elusive the purse.

To my friends and family, I would simply say this: Next time my diary, or my keys, or my laptop, or anything else goes missing, relax and take a deep breath – it is not my fault, it is just the universe working according to the laws above.

Plus, ponder this. If we never lost anything, we would never know the sheer joy of finding something precious again.

In my Bible there are many stories that reflect God’s delight and celebration when something (or someone) that is lost is found again. I have learned, over the years, to take my pleasures where I can find them.

Rather than just stressing over the lost things, I try to rejoice over the found things – which seems more God-like.

That is a profound thought, and I would make a note of it in my diary. If I could find my glasses.