Alone in a crowd

While money buys automobiles, homes, and clothes it ultimately buys isolation.

If we were without this wealth, we would once again learn interdependence on each other. We would learn the meaning of borrowing a cup of sugar, of helping a neighbor out of a predicament, of community.

This isolation has lead to problems untold. We have built fences around our castles, avoiding any neighborly contact with the push of a garage door opener. We enter these castles eating quick heat dinners and hovering over computer screens with no connection to our fellow man.

Remember the Iraqi man who hid 22 years in a wall that he built inside his home, running from Saddam Hussein’s death squads? But he is like so many of us. Rather than face the world, dangerous and frightening it may be, we choose to live in our own prisons. The light of day passes with nary a nod of acknowledgement, for we are captives of the dark.

How many men have run from relationships, a superhero complex keeping them from intimacy? How many women have built up a legion of acquaintances and yet avoiding true friendship?

Many of us try to fill the hollow ache inside with activity, filling our waking moments with parties and leisure and travel. But one look in the mirror reflects the sadness.

Reaching out to fill the holes in our souls, we find nothing. So we doubt our self worth, pushing ourselves away from others and burrowing in a world that no one can understand.

Combating loneliness cannot be overcome with companionship; otherwise a dog would fit the bill. Walking down a busy city street can be among the loneliest activities if you don’t know anyone.

Proverbs 18.10 says, “A man of many companions will come to ruin.” But it goes on to say that “there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.”

The first friend you should have is God Himself.

He will listen. He will care. He will not leave you alone.

Please, share with a friend if you feel moved.
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