Feeling Lonely?
Isolation – a familiar word from the last year and one that we thankfully don’t have to use as often here in our country. Being apart from everything, it’s not the nicest feeling in the world. It’s a feeling that isn’t the easiest to admit too – to swallow your pride and say, “hey, that’s me; I’m Mr Lonely. I have nobody for my own”. It’s a feeling of weakness and defeat. I’ve been thinking about this thought since Sunday when during his sermon, our minister had asked the congregation, “raise your hand if you have ever felt so alone?
Live-streaming services is something that has also become a norm since we had to move into isolation last year, and I like that my church has kept it going. Asking the camera to be kept on him, knowing this was such a personal question, the church slowly raised their hands if they felt that the question was relatable to them (it’s a nice feeling knowing you actually weren’t alone feeling alone) – but I noticed that I had tried to avoid the question and found myself opening my phone to swipe through memes. The way our church is set up, I face the congregation along with the minister, so I felt that I could hide myself from the question, heck I manage to get away with being unseen other services. But this time, after surveying the room, the minister asked, ‘what about you, Wes? Have you ever felt alone?”
I suddenly felt my heart racing being put on the spot like that – not because I was caught looking at memes during the sermon, but because I had to admit I felt lonely in front of my family. I raised my hand and kept my head down. Why did I feel so tense about admitting that though? Is it because I felt like I had let my family down? Is it because I felt like I didn’t vocalise how I felt to my family and not let them offer a hand to fix it? Or is it because feeling alone is something we look down on and we often don’t do enough to address?
The past few weeks, the topic of loneliness is something that I’ve subconsciously come across on different platforms. Through work, through social media and now through church. It’s a topic that’s talked about, but are we doing enough to talk about it in our daily lives? We celebrated Aldersgate Day on the 24th, and to take a page out of the O.G Wesley’s book, are we doing all we can to check in on those feeling alone? Are we doing all we can to keep up the connectivity in this ever-changing isolated world?
...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:20 (NIV)
- How can we invite God into our loneliness?
- What are things that lockdown/isolation has taught you to be grateful for, in terms of everyday interactions with people?
- Who might need prayer in relation to todays Blog?
by Wesley Machee, AMY Synod