You don’t have to be lonely
Seeing ourselves and others as children of God, infinite Love, is a powerful basis for overcoming loneliness, as a woman experienced while traveling after her husband passed on.
My husband and I had talked about celebrating a landmark anniversary with a trip abroad, but he passed away before we could implement a plan. Going alone felt as if it might be too big of an undertaking. But through prayer, I came to realize that I could travel solo.
The internet helped me work through the logistics of the trip, but heartfelt prayer is what really prepared me. Even though I would be traveling independently, I knew that I would not really be alone. God is with us every moment. God is our very best friend and constantly tells all of us who we are as His precious, perfect children. He loves us and provides only good for each of us. God is Spirit, and as His image and likeness, we are spiritual, lacking nothing.
Especially after my husband’s passing, I felt impelled actively to pray about the loneliness so many seem to feel these days. An understanding of our unity with God, who is Love, and with one another as God’s sons and daughters, helps us break through feelings of isolation and loneliness. Such darkness can’t exist in the realm of divine Love, which is where we all truly live.
The Bible says, “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness” (I Thessalonians 5:5). We are never stuck. We can let the light of Love dispel any false sense of darkness.
Mortal mind, a seeming mentality apart from God, would say that we can be alienated or isolated from God and His offspring. However, through prayer and God-impelled action, we can prove that those suggestions are lies. Instead of accepting them, as we embrace spiritual reality, we come to know and feel that everyone is included in and connected through the infinite Love that is God. No one is solitary or left out.
Because our true habitation is Love, a natural antidote to loneliness is expressing the unselfed love inherent in each of us. A passage from “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” speaks to this connectedness: “Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it” (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 57). An unselfish approach inspired by Love helps us peck open our shell of isolation.
As we feel God’s great love for each of us, we can generously share joy and love with everyone we meet. We may find ourselves in different cultures with different languages and customs, but in truth we are all brothers and sisters – created to express God’s love and care, each innately understanding the universal language of love.
In this light, it’s natural to reach out to help others, and for others to reach out to help us, in ways that bring comfort and peace.
For example, when I was traveling, people quickly came to my aid as I struggled with my cumbersome suitcase. And I had many meaningful encounters throughout the trip. In fact, I found that as I prayerfully embraced everyone as the offspring of divine Love, I didn’t feel lonely at all! I felt God’s great love for me and shared His love with everyone I met. How could I be lonely?
Many years ago I heard an allegory in which there are two scenes of people eating with gigantic chopsticks. In the first scene, the diners are trying, unsuccessfully, to eat alone using the unwieldy tools, but in the second scene, everyone is helping his neighbor. The first scene represents hell, and the second scene depicts heaven.
This story illustrates that what’s in our hearts, even more than our outward circumstances, contributes to the quality of our lives. As a poem by Mary Baker Eddy says, “It matters not what be thy lot, / So Love doth guide” (“Poems,” p. 79). When we recognize the spiritual Love that is all around, we experience heaven wherever we are.