Loneliness: "Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for man to be alone...." Genesis 2:18 In Exitu is a medieval Gregorian song that is a part of every human life. Lonely and haunting this song recalls the exile of the Jews wandering in the widerness of Sinai. It recalls the loneliness of a tribe in exile, the fears of not having any place to live and the restless quest for a home, a place promised of God to live in community.
All of us long for this place. We all want some sense of place and a meaningful way to relate to others. Everyone has felt isolated, lonely. I am finding that to make friends with me (getting to know myself and enjoy being with "me") and Jesus is profoundly my answer to my quest. When I'm o.k. with me I can genuinely connect with others.
I recently ran up on some medical research that confirms my findings. It seems Dr. Aaron Katcher, of University of Pennsylvania Medical School has been conducting research on cardiac patients. He is finding that isolation can kill you. We must find our home and rediscover our own body and make peace with ourselves to that we can connect in community with others in "promised land" of the human heart.
It appears from this research that listening to others allows our blood pressure to stay at a good healthy low pressure. When we get our minds off of ourselves; our cardiac condition is improved. Wow!!! I can think of hundreds of Scriptures that point us to think of others before ourselves.
But I am discovering I have to be at peace with me. For me that peace has come as I look more and more to Jesus as my all in all; He is enough for whatever comes up or will come up in my life.
We need community and others so much that Dr. Katcher discovered that the extent of ventricular damage was the strongest predictor of subsequent sudden death. He found that the second strongest predictor of long-term survival was whether or not the patient had a pet. Those without pets had a fourfold increase in mortality rates compared to patients with pets!!!
We must have heart felt dialogue or our hearts will die!!! Loneliness and isolation will be a theme for several days. I am discovering to thrive we must have God and one another.
What do you have to say about loneliness? Ever been lonely in a crowded room?
No comments:
Post a Comment