ALONE in God

I’m captivated by the idea that one way of living surmounts all the ills of life; at a core it’s the faith-life in, and under, the Lordship of Christ. That’s easy to say. Harder, though, is finding a way through the maze of life, from the practical viewpoint—actually living it! I propose being A.L.O.N.E. in God gets us the:

Ability to...

This is the knowledge, skill and capacity to do something.

Love Unconditionally...

This is much harder than it sounds. It’s allaying judgment. It’s forgiveness granted without thought of self-cost; that is, bearing hurts against us, absorbing them. Only then can we love unconditionally.

Offend Nobody...

Committed to loving unconditionally, we have no motive to offend, and we automatically resist same. We have put aggression behind us.

Never Take Offence...

Following from the above, we’ve also put cowering submission behind us. We don’t see people—in the general flow of life—attacking us personally. Rather, we see them reeling in their own hurt, toward us and others; we understand that hurts directed at us are not really directed at us at all. They’re a response; an inappropriate, though normal, defence mechanism.

Our response to a hurt person, even as they seek to hurt us, is best, compassion; it always has to be if we’re to love unconditionally.

Exist As God’s Own.

The above can only occur if we see ourselves as uniquely sacrosanct to the Lord, our God. Then we can live as, what I call, cosmically alone with God, which is accountable to God alone.

Paradoxical Aloneness

This sort of aloneness provides for any sense of spiritual aloneness, because of the humility we extract in living out this acronym, A.L.O.N.E.

Isn’t it true, we feel most alone when we’re polarised into ourselves and our own problems; most devoid of thought for others and their problems?

If aloneness in God is anything, it’s resetting our bearings within the scope of fellowship—or thought of and for others. From there our problems pale into a better insignificance, and self-pity withers without attention.

© 2011 S. J. Wickham.