Loneliness is not the preserve of the elderly, but for many it lies ahead, the more so in our modern societies. Can faith in God offer any antidote to loneliness, regardless of whether other folk bother with us?
A man might invest in marriage and family,
And yet still find himself all alone one day.
Death, and life itself, can steal our loved ones,
And, uninvited, loneliness comes to stay.
Our memories may be poor companions for us,
As we dilly-dally in past, mayhap better, times;
Mourning for what we had, and now have lost:
Nostalgic snatches in place of nursery rhymes.
The more social by nature, the more it hurts.
Without interior resources we may stagnate,
While fears geyser up from deep down pain,
Showering us with discomfiting precipitate.
Can faith in God succour us in our solitary,
With something more than a future solace?
Can wholesome aloneness replace loneliness?
Can our spirit grasp His Spirit’s promise?
When prayer’s a substantial love relationship,
And that empty chair is never really empty;
When Jesus’ embrace is emotionally felt,
May we find in Him seeds of social plenty!
And though perhaps infirm and limited by age,
We can thrill in facing outwards, people-centric,
To be a graced magnet to younger, rasher ones,
And our latter days be anything but melancholic.