Editorial April 14, 1997 Issue

The solitude that ends isolation

Russ Gerber

SOME people are always busy, surrounded by others, and yet are unhappy because they feel alone, isolated. Isolation actually refers to being cut off from contact with anyone, having no one to turn to. Yet no matter how much time we might spend with others, if we feel disconnected, if we believe that no one needs us, no one cares for us, no one understands us, a sense of isolation can still take hold.

Odd as it may sound, one way to end feelings of isolation is solitude. Although solitude does refer to being alone, it also suggests a mental state—a quiet, gentle environment for reflection, for prayer. And in such quietness, listening to God, we become aware of God's presence with us. Shutting out distractions and turning our attention to God, we receive divine guidance. We're comforted and cared for by what God reveals to us. And this happens because God is all-knowing and everywhere present.

Each of us is eternally related to God as His child, His image and likeness. There's no distance between us and God. We have the same enormously important basis for affirming our inseparability from God as Christ Jesus did when he affirmed, "The Father hath not left me alone" (John 8:29). It's our constant relation to God, divine Mind, as His idea, and the all-loving nature of God, that make this closeness and love of God a reality in our lives, one that brings an end to feelings of isolation.

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