SHINING LIGHT ON LONELINESS

LIZ MATA

SOCIAL ISOLATION sometimes results in loneliness irrespective of one's age, cultural background, or socioeconomic status. But God—compassionate and always there—can help us overcome acute or chronic loneliness when we listen for His guidance in humble prayer.

This doesn't mean learning the discipline to be alone or resigning oneself to an isolated life. When loneliness says there's no one to understand, to care, or to love, and the empty moments keep turning up over and over, this isn't a dead end. When we run out of human fix-it means, we're ready for prayer that opens the way to grow into a deeper understanding of God as Love—as our parent, friend, and confidant. No one is expected to suffer through loneliness, but it can be a springboard for a deeper, heartfelt acceptance of what constitutes our God-given spiritual nature—never alone, always with God.

This doesn't mean that we never have to include people and activities in our life again. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Praying to understand that each of us has an inseparable relationship with Love—that each one of us is the child of Love—opens our whole being to see that this same Love is the source of all relationships, sharing, and harmony with others.

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