“The most terrible poverty is
loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.”
― MOTHER TERESA (1910–1997)
There is far too much loneliness in our world.
Ever more so these days – in this day and age of modern
convenience and technology and ease – there is a polarised sense of isolation.
And one needn’t be single. So many lonely people are lonely in the busiest of
places; in the noisiest of lives; in the ‘sanctity’ of marriage.
Loneliness is a manifestation of soul where the person is bereft
of love. We can connect loneliness with a lack of experienced love. We may
struggle to connect that we are loved; we may not see it.
First >>> Empathy, Warmth and
Compassion
Reconciling a heartrending loneliness can be a challenge for anyone – married, single, divorced,
never married, widowed, orphaned, the betrayed...
Anyone can be affected, and anyone can be so overwhelmed in their
confusion: “Why, just why, am I so lonely?”
And anyone can be justifiably
lonely. Yes, it is not to be selfish, pitiable, or ungodly to be lonely. To be
lonely is to be connected to a heart-wrenching reality – a reality that
identifies us as human.
Yes, human.
We have a need for connectedness. Of course, when we experience a
soul-loneness, that sense of disconnectedness to our humanity seems obvious. We
feel cut off from ourselves, because we feel cut off to an essential part of
our humanity – the need for connectedness.
We must now connect with this vital truth: it is not selfish, pitiable (read,
self-pity), or ungodly to be lonely.
We must receive God’s empathy, warmth, and compassion – through these words, if
necessary. Indeed, we might see how we are trying to honour God’s will in and
through ourselves by being connected – to respond to our sense of
soul-loneness.
God is calling our hearts to respond to this sense of aloneness:
to search in hope.
Second >>> Moving Forward to
Search – In Hope
It is to honour God to respond to his calling in your heart to be connected
to your fellow humanity – to desire a partner, to hanker for friendship, to
want to be connected to family; to enjoy your work relationships.
God wants us, most of all, to keep
seeking – to not give up – but to do so patiently.
The only way we can do these things – to keep seeking, to not give up, but
to do so patiently – is to invest in hope. Hope is a positive thing. It holds
to ideals and visions and openness. Hope is always a good thing. Hope leads us
to God as God leads us to hope.
***
Being lonely corresponds to our
need for connection – God made us this way. It is not selfish, pitiable, or
ungodly to be lonely. It is God’s affirmation that something is missing. God
wants us to search in hope – to not give up – to find our need of connection
met. Hope will address loneliness. Hope.
© 2013 S. J. Wickham.
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