Loneliness, the Despair of Being Alone!

Last updated on: June 1, 2018 at 12:04 pm by Paul Bane

Loneliness, the Despair of Being Alone! 2018-06-01T12:04:13-06:00 Paul Bane

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We all struggle with the feeling of being isolated and detached from everything around us on various occasions in our lives. There is the cosmic loneliness of being on a sphere spinning and traveling through space at the blinding speed of six hundred miles per second. There are also the troubling thoughts we have about our insignificance when we compare ourselves to the indescribable vastness of the universe.

There is an old adage spoken to friends and loved ones alike in the throes of broken relationships that no person alive can cure your loneliness. In fact, good counsel tells them, you are not ready for another committed relationship until you can “learn to be alone without being lonely.” Easier said than done is the awareness and strength to overcome our feelings of loneliness and heartbreak in life.

One of the underlying ways of overcoming loneliness is having the awareness and hope, you and I are never alone. The promise of “Immanuel” God with us is paramount in offering comfort and hope for overcoming our feelings of being alone. The Apostle John writes that Jesus of Nazareth was God in human flesh and wants to share with us that He saw him with his own eyes and touched him with his own hands and you and I today can trust in His resurrection power and love for us.

So when I abruptly awake in the middle of the night with the frightening thoughts of being abandoned I begin to focus my undivided attention immediately on Christ. In my spirit, soul, and mind, I repeat and meditate upon the words “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner” over and over till the presence of Christ calms my being.

I have learned that when I take the time to become still in the silence and contemplate on Christ and speak a “sacred word or scripture” mindfully over and over in my head, my loneliness dissipates. So I can truthfully say, “I have felt alone plenty of times in my life, but in silence and solitude with God, I have never felt alone.” I pray you may experience it too!

“And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14

“We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life.” 1 John 1:1

Contemplative Prayer