Facing Loneliness

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:18)

I read this painful article about an older gentleman who lost his wife, and his family fell away. He asked himself, “When you have no place to go, and no one to come home to, where is home?” It reminded me of Briandito Priambodo’s article, “The Place I Call Home.” Priambodo’s article begins with a poem from from his website, thetinywisdom.com, regarding getting older and being lonely.

“As I grow older

I learned that

Sometimes my house doesn’t feel like home

Sometimes I feel like an outsider

I found out that home is not something so simple

It can be a house…”

We are compassionate people when one has cancer, a heart attack, or a debilitating disease. However, loneliness can be as crippling and painful and hurts emotionally and physically. It can reduce our passion for life and dry up our souls. Yet, we often do not treat loneliness with the concern and compassion it deserves. Why are we so calloused in this area? Perhaps because you cannot visualize loneliness on an MRI or a CAT scan. It takes the eyes of compassion and faith to see the mass of pain that is loneliness.

“It was much simpler back then…

“Home” was the place…

…I always come back to.

It’s where I feel the warmth of being loved.

…I’m left alone.

So I had to learn to be comfortable with myself.

So, what is “home,” I wonder?”

But when you…

Don’t have a place to go

Don’t receive any love or warmth

Don’t feel like you belong

Or any fond memories to recall…

Then, what can you do?”

The Tiny Wisdom author finally answers the question of home by saying, “You are your own Home.” I would partially agree. I must add, you do not have to stay alone. God is looking for you every minute. The most extraordinary relationship is only a prayer away. Home becomes evident when we become our best friend and invite God into our inner circle. We experience joy and acceptance when we appreciate ourselves and ask God to step into our emptiness. We are to take divine fulfillment literally. God fills the lonely places in our lives and brings us joy anew.