Monday, February 7, 2011

Loneliness

My minister has been preaching an excellent series of sermons on our emotions. He doesn't call it that but that's what it is. The last three weeks have been on Worry, Guilt and, yesterday, Loneliness.

He referenced a very sad Web site called "A Lonely Life."

He also said this: Loneliness is one of the most miserable feelings a person can have.

Some folks have no patience with lonely people. Some folks think that genuinely Christian people are, by definition, incapable of being lonely.

But let's see....

King David was lonely (Read some of the Psalms.)
The Apostle Paul was lonely
Jesus was lonely (There's no sadder verse in the Bible than "The Son of God has no place to lay is head.")

All of the prophets were lonely. In my opinion, a couple of them were clinically depressed.

I've spent much of my life with the painful feeling of loneliness. I wrote the poem below a long time ago.

SURFACE FRIEND

She appeared at the door,
With her children,
The spend the day
Because she had heard me say
That I was lonely.

"Lady, you don't understand.

I am lonely because
The earth is such a small planet
In the universe.

Because 20,000 people died
In the Guatemalan earthquake,

Because I am a middle aged,
Motherless child.

I thought everybody felt that way,
Sometimes,
Don't you?"


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