We were not created to be alone. That is not to say that being alone at times is not refreshing. Sometimes to have the noise of our lives turned down or off is a real energy saving measure with consequences of retuning our hearing (making us at times able, again, to apprehend the subtle sounds in our lives). But we are not created to be alone.
This last week, I was confronted by this truth everywhere I turned. My beautiful wife was visiting her mother. This was a trip that I hoped would invigorate her and give her a break from the day to day life that, in its routine, loses it perceived worth from sheer monotony. She sounded refreshed on the phone when I talked with her.
My fellows in ministry also took leave of my presence and found themselves either enjoying family or enjoying a distinctive ministry setting. I was glad for them, but I remained, as the scripture states, like “a pelican of the wilderness; I have become like an owl of the waste places. I lie awake, I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.”
I have come to the determination that doing “lonely” is no fun. We were created for relationship, both near and far, and relationship must take place or we “deconstruct.” We may not even like each other, but we need each other. We may not even get along well, but in getting along at all we are healthier. It is in the power of rubbing shoulders and sharing life that we overcome, on this earthly plane, the conclusion of our limited eyesight that we are all alone.
May God help us to practice this art.
You never cease to captivate me. I have yet to find another person out there who has your uncanny ability to say very deep things and yet not make it so heavy that you are crushed out of understanding it. Thank you for sharing.