RELATIONSHIPS October 6, 2008 Issue

HOPE FOR THE LONELY HEART

WENDY MANKER

CONSIDERING THE NUMBER of people on this planet, it's amazing that so many of them experience sadness and loneliness. Often I hear from people who tell me how lonely they feel, even when they give exactly the opposite appearance. They're surrounded by family and friends, and their lives have all the ingredients of what the world says is needed to be happy and fulfilled. But I know what they're going through.

Many years ago, as a young mother, I felt very dissatisfied, sad, and lonely, even though it looked as if I had everything I needed to be supremely happy: a wonderful family made up of a caring husband and two rambunctious little boys. We had a home that we loved, and relatives and friends we were close to. Both my husband and I had fulfilling jobs.

For many years, whenever I've felt unsettled, I've turned my thoughts to God in prayer to find the answers that I need. This was one of those times. I yearned to find an answer that would end the lonely, unhappy thoughts. Through my spiritual study, I was familiar with the words and works of the master Christian, Jesus, as well as the laws of Christian healing that Mary Baker Eddy set forth in Science and Health. So I set about to find some spiritual truths that would comfort me. During this time of turning to God in deep yearning, a message came to me, loud and clear: You are starving spiritually.