Loneliness isn't what it seems. It doesn't necessarily depend on our being alone. We can feel lonely in a crowd or even among friends. Loneliness comes about because we believe we are dependent on others for our sustenance and supply, for satisfaction and happiness; and others can be unreliable or even unavailable. Loneliness suggests that we can be separated from our source of good and left to face life on our own.

The truth is that as spiritual ideas of God, we can never be lonely or even really alone. God, Love, is always with us, providing for our every need, including satisfaction and companionship. Even if we find ourselves in a difficult or dangerous situation where human help is unavailable, God supplies protection and guidance. And His remedy is neither nebulous nor abstract. It is real, tangible, and demonstrable in human experience. What's more, we can never find ourselves outside of divine care, because it is the very essence of our being.

At times it may seem we are entities separate from God, striving only to get a little closer to Him. Yet, the wonderful truth is that we are actually at one with God, since His idea, man, is the full and perfect expression of all that God imparts. We are the very manifestation of infinite Love's goodness and care. We are at one with divine Mind, the origin of all wisdom and knowledge. The source of our identity is infinite Soul, which includes eternal life. And we can no more be separated from this source than the sunlight can get away from the sun. As Paul says in Romans, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, norheight, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (8:38, 39).

An experience I had proved this to me very dramatically. Another teacher and I were responsible for taking a group of sixthgraders on a hike in the mountains during their stay at our district's outdoor education school. It was well into October, and the trail was already packed with snow. As we started up the mountain, it became apparent to me that the boots I had worn were fine for snow, but not good for hiking. In the first half mile they became miserably uncomfortable, and a blister seemed to be forming on my little toe. At first I spent a lot of time ruminating about why I hadn't chosen to wear my hiking boots, like everyone else had. We still had another two and a half miles to go up the trail and then three miles back. Furthermore, I was responsible for all these children. I didn't know what I was going to do, and in spite of being surrounded by other people, I felt quite alone. Then I remembered I could pray!

I prayed as I had learned to do in Christian Science. I affirmed that where it appeared there was an unsolvable predicament, God was present, caring for me and the children. I wasn't alone, because Love was all around. Furthermore, whatever seemed to be a painful material condition couldn't exist, because God, who is Spirit, hadn't created it. Therefore, as the full and perfect expression of Spirit, I couldn't have it. I could only possess what God imparts to me—infinite peace and goodness, health and wholeness. That did not include painful blisters on sore feet.

I thought about the fact that since taking the children on this hike had been an unselfish idea, God would not have me start out and then abandon me. I remembered a phrase from Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy: "Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself." Here is more of the context of this sentence: "Constant toil, deprivations, exposures, and all untoward conditions, if without sin, can be experienced without suffering. Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself. If you sprain the muscles or wound the flesh, your remedy is at hand" (p. 385).

I prayed this way and tried to keep on walking and trust that God was taking care of us all, I focused on the truth of my being, as God's forever-cared-for spiritual idea, instead of on the blister on my toe. Rather than think of my own troubles, I reached out in love to a girl who was having a hard time keeping up, walking with her so she could. I kept putting one foot in front of the other, and soon we were at the top of the trail, and I hadn't thought about my feet at all. They didn't hurt anymore, and I was loving every minute of the hike, as were the children.

The most interesting part was what happened after we ate lunch and started down the mountain. We walked quickly because everyone was eager to get back. The packed snow had become icy in the fading afternoon sun. Before I knew what had happened, I was on the ground. I could hear one of the children behind me shouting, "The teacher fell," and I realized they were talking about me. A couple of girls helped me up; I rested for a minute and then continued walking.

Though the argument came that my bones might be brittle and a fall such as the one I had taken could have resulted in a break, I hadn't been hurt at all. The other teacher predicted I would be stiff from pulled muscles when I got home, but that was not the case. There were no ill effects ever. I know that it was because earlier in the day I had aligned my thought with God's care and had trusted so completely that I couldn't possibly have fallen out of it.

I was so grateful for the care on the hike and for the safety when I fell, but even more wonderful was the feeling of being totally enveloped in God's love. It completely erased any sense of loneliness or fear connected with being so responsible for the children's happiness and well-being. It became eminently clear that day that I could never be in a place where God wasn't right with me and those I was caring for. Since, as God's idea, man cannot exist without God's love, I can never be separated from it. An added bonus was that I gained an improved sense of dominion over the fear of trying new things and doing things on my own.

Of course, it's important to use wisdom and not put ourselves deliberately into dangerous, foolhardy situations. But when we understand more fully that all right action is God-impelled, we can trust that we have whatever we need. We can enjoy solitude or a crowd without feeling lonely.