Never Alone
Pray without ceasing. (1 Thes 5:16)
This past weekend I was reflecting on my last reflection, Snapshots. We are living in a time where lonliness and desolation is endemic. This modern day crisis in the midst of the age of “social” media is a crisis of snapshots. I was considering the math behind the minutes: just how much shared space and thought my husband Jeff and I have had in our thirty year marriage. Then I was considering the time in my life when I had the most social interactions: when I had my two kids at home and was working part time. Even then I can see that the majority of my thoughts and perceptions are taking place in my head, not out there in interaction. Think about it, for all the conversation and connections we have with other people there is a LOT more that just bounces around inside our heads and our hearts. Our heads and our hearts are prime God real estate. If we don’t have a well formed relationship with God, all those thoughts and feelings just bounce around, and lonliness and desolation take over.
“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” Matthew 12:43-45
The house Jesus refers to is our hearts and minds. We are not meant to be swept clean, we are meant to be filled with the Spirit of God. This is the antidote to lonliness and isolation. I spend more time alone at this season of my life than I have ever spent alone before. As I reflected on snapshots and lonliness and isolation my heart was further convicted to this truth: I am never alone. My thoughts and feelings don’t bounce around empty space. My thoughts and feelings are shared and known by the One who knows me best, God. Best of all, I have a Triune God, I have three Persons keeping me company. St. Paul knew what he was about when He encouraged the Thessalonians to pray without ceasing. It’s not as impossible as it seems. It only requires inviting God into our head and heart space and giving Him some silence every now and then to inspire us, encourage us, fortify us, and embrace us.
