“It is not good for man to be alone.” These remarkable words are spoken by God in the Book of Genesis as he seeks for a way to brighten things for a sad and lonely Adam. So God creates Eve, and she and Adam became “partners”.
Problem solved? For awhile. But then it happened. Our first parents chose to walk away from God who created them. And that’s when the sadness and loneliness of life settled in. They can no longer look at each other. They take up wearing leaves to hide their nakedness.
Loneliness is born. Oh dear.
There’s a tear in our hearts. We want to connect with others, but who is there we can trust to know us completely. (Haven’t many of us at some time assumed we’d found “Mr. or Ms. Wonderful”? Finally, we meet someone who is endlessly fascinating and fun and who delights in our every thought. How soon we discover they (and we) are not as perfect as we thought.)
Do you begin to see the peaceful co-existence of the world’s peoples hangs on the common conviction that we are created and saved by God who calls us His children? Without the assurance of the love of God, upholding creation and calling humanity to Himself, we’re left with a profound mistrust of one another.
Not even friend, lover, husband or wife will put to rest our craving for love and completion in this broken world. God created the human creature whose ultimate purpose is to know and love our Creator. He is our ALL.
So what do we do? Here’s where people can get lost. Some people will medicate their loneliness (food, alcohol, pills, etc.). Some will try to fill it with people and constant activity. Some go shopping! Why not travel?
Why not accept your loneliness? It’s part of life. It goes along with all the other moments humans experience. “There is a season and a time for every purpose. A time to be born, a time to die, a time to laugh, a time to weep” . . . . . . a time to be lonely”.
In fact, loneliness can add an unexpected blessing in our lives. It can force us to know ourselves, to truly embrace who we are (the good and the bad, the happy and sad). We stop running away from ourselves. Being alone is not so bad. (Maybe you’ve learned a little of this in these days of Covid isolation).
Best of all, loneliness can invite me to reach out to God in prayer. To confide in God what you’d speak to no other . . . . knowing that he hears and understands all of you.
Do you know who the loneliest guy in the world is? It has to be Jesus.
Who on earth could possibly understand who he was? Who could ever know the weight his mission placed on his shoulders? What must have been his loneliness in the garden that terrible night? Who could ever comfort Jesus?
But he was never alone for he knew his Father. (How often the scripture refers to Jesus spending the night alone in prayer to his Father “who sees in secret”.)
Lonely? Of course. Embrace it. Make friends with it (“Sister Loneliness”, St. Francis might say). You’ll be surprised how it will make you a better person; it can make you aware of the loneliness of others. It’s called compassion.
Last thought. There’s no loneliness in heaven. God will permeate every speck of our being. “For now we see as through a glass darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I am known.” 1 Cor.13:12.
God sees you . . . and loves you.
Fr. Tim
