A Note From Pastor Tim

Thoughts on Loneliness, Part II

Last week's Faith Focus talked about the pain of loneliness.  Too many people in our society feel cut

off from meaningful contact.   One national survey indicates that a quarter of all Americans have  felt lonely in the past month,  and two-thirds of Americans who do not feel lonely say that they 'very much want to have closer relationships with other people.'  Remember when we knew everyone in the neighborhood?  When you sat on the front porch and visited with people?  Today, the home entertainment center captures our time - and the hours we spend on the Internet are, after all, a solo experience.

But there is another side to being alone.  In seminary, our teacher, Henri Nouwen, explained to us that the goal of the spiritual life was to turn our loneliness into solitude; by that, he meant that we were to learn to become comfortable in the presence of God.   Solitude embraces silence as a sacred place; rather than running away from silence and trying to fill our lives with noise and 'things to do', we learn to be still and to know God.

How much time do you spend alone with God?

In faith,

Faith is Growing

Faith Pondering