loneliness

ADVENT REFLECTION: A Song From Hollowed Space by Enuma Okoro

December 10, 2018

From Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent Oh that thou would rend the heavens, that thou would come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, as when the melting fire burns, the fire causes the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou came down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence. For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waits for him. Thou meet him that rejoices and works righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for [...]

POETRY: Soft Place to Fall by Sandra Weiss

November 28, 2018

Evening approaches, to call an end to the day. Shadows surround the last bit of light. The sounds that were, fade away. A stillness descends to blend into the night. The early darkness, a night without end, is what I dread, but I have to face. Dusk to dawn, empty hours to spend in my world which is nothing but space. I look for anything, to pass the time, restless, I walk from room to room. Hoping to distract this pattern of mine, to disappear into the increasing gloom. The need inside of me, makes itself known. My heart and soul hears it’s silent call. I have searched in vain, though I am alone. I yearn for that soft place to [...]

EVIL: Loneliness

May 6, 2018

Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty. (Mother Teresa) Loneliness is taking the illusion of separation and making it real. Loneliness is sitting down in a boat ride at an amusement park and never coming out of the tunnel. Loneliness is believing every lie that has ever been told us. Loneliness is the root of all evil. There are two parts to loneliness: self-centeredness and disheartenment. Self-Centeredness There is a difference between being alone and loneliness. We could live in a large family, have a job with many others, attend a large church, and live in a big city and still feel lonely. On the other hand, we could live in a cabin deep in the woods and, while being alone, feel connected. How can [...]

POETRY: By The Water Of Babylon, by Eloise Blanchard

February 3, 2017

The journey took forever, it seemed, over wide valleys, smooth with wear, over high hills, the occasional mountain, carefully, across bridges over chasms with various ugly creatures in them. When I got to the river, it bubbled, swaying its way to the ocean— a rhythmic flow— and I lay down in the deep fine grass hands outspread and thought I was in the promised land. But, like Moses, I was on the other side the wrong side. I looked over and knew it instantly; knew the irrevocable nature of location, humanity, physical being had put me there after long journeys, with people following blindly and I could not get to the right side. And folks on the other side were dancing— a celebration of their river and their views. The river flows [...]

MORNING DEW: Here I Am, Lord, by Michel Quoist

February 2, 2013

Translated by Agnes M. Forsythe and Anne Marie de Commaille Here I Am, Lord Tonight, Lord, I am alone. Little by little the sounds died down in the church, The people went away, And I came home, Alone. I passed people who were returning from a walk. I went by the movie house that was disgorging its crowd. I skirted café terraces where tired strollers were trying to prolong the pleasure of a Sunday holiday. I bumped into youngsters, who will never be my own. Here I am, Lord, Alone. The silence troubles me, The solitude oppresses [...]

SERMON: Loneliness And Solitude, by Paul Tillich

September 9, 2012

And when he had sent multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. (Matthew 14:23) “He was there, alone.” So are we. Man is alone because he is man! In some way every creature is alone. In majestic isolation every star travels through the darkness of endless space. Each tree grows according to its own law, fulfilling its unique possibilities. Animals live, fight and die for themselves alone, confined to the limitations of their bodies. Certainly, they also appear as male and female, in families and in flocks. Some of them are gregarious. But all of them are alone! Being alive means being in a body — a body separated from all other bodies. And being [...]

The Value of Sparrows

Writings of a Christian Mystic