Tag Archives: lonely

“1” is a lonely number

24 Friday Jul 2020

Posted by in family, love, Relationship, Uncategorized

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We live in a world where oppression seems to be a norm. The oppression comes in many different forms. There are those who oppress physically, there are those who oppress emotionally, there are those who oppress others mentally, even spiritually. The fact there are people guilty of oppression will not change. For some people, the experiences of life, well…it is just the way of life!

Those who oppress will met God one day.

Those guilty of oppressing others may be an ambitious person with the feeling of power and a recognition that there is not another person to come to the aid or relief of the oppressed. Ambition is that characteristic in life that can be both good and/or bad. It is good when a person is ambitious in trying to improve circumstances for himself and his family. It is bad when that same person does so and the expense of others. An ambitious person may not be oppressive, but if the goal is achieving the highest end without regard to an ethical standard greater than man, then the ambitious person is oppressive because those in the way must be thrust to the side.

If you played in any athletic sport, you know something about the competitive spirit. Perhaps you have not played in any sport, still the competitive spirit may reign in you also. I may be better than you or you me. If the one is better, is the better one a team player or an individual seeking his own glory and attention? On a team there are going to be players that are better at the activity than others; if the team, however, is not a unified whole, the better players will not overcome in all the contests in which the team is involved.

Some try to overcome a pain in life by working incessantly. Is this a team player? That person works and works, but at the end of the day, what did the workaholic gain for himself? He gained nothing but missed more than he can remember passing by him. As his life comes to an end, there are few who are near him because the workaholic gave little (or no) time to others, so they feel no compassion or empathy in giving any time to him, especially when he is in need of it. The strength in numbers is gone, because the only number he know is the number “1”, and “1” is such a lonely number.

A LIFE TO LIVE

29 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by in Atheism, Bulletin Article, God, Prayer

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For those not religious, to whom do they pray?

Seems like a good question to me. According to a new survey, one in four non-believers pray when faced with a crisis.

What?

A non-believer prays? Prays to whom? The very notion of being a non-believer is, presumably, not believing in a higher power, that is, not believing in a higher power to even exist!

“For atheists and agnostics, personal crisis or tragedy is the most common reason for them to resort to prayer, with a quarter admitting they pray for comfort or to feel less lonely.”

Okay, I get it, they pray to themselves to make themselves feel better?

No, that is not actually so. They pray hoping there is something higher than themselves, though they admit the “higher-than-themselves” being may not even hear them, much less answer them.

Why pray then? There just must be something greater than the individual person struggling, and even greater than collective man (community) to give answers to a chaotic world.

Katherine Tait (atheistic philosopher Bertrand Russell’s daughter) often said she found what her father was looking for, but never admitted that he was – a higher power than the wisdom of man (p. 189).

To receive comfort and to feel less lonely in a very individualistic western society is a tall order, for try as he might, in the midst of all his friends, a man sits in a corner crying because no one understands him and his failings…wondering why life is even worth living.

“A thief does not come for any purpose but to steal and kill and destroy; I have come for people to have life and have it till it overflows” (John 10:10, Williams New Testament Translation). RT

A Lonely Teenage Girl?

02 Wednesday Dec 2015

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Sometimes the pain in life generates thoughts that astounds and depresses people who hear of them. If that is so, then imagine the one who labors with the thoughts continuously. Recently, a brother shared a discouraging thought expressed on a sheet of paper by one who was (and evidently is) lonely. This loneliness, however, is not what you might imagine. Read what he shared not long ago:

Each November, our congregation puts up a “thankful tree” on a wall.  Over the course of several weeks members are invited to write on a paper leaf something or someone they are thankful for.  They don’t have to sign their leaves.

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving we have a devotional rather than regularly scheduled Bible classes.

We sing various hymns and chorus of praise and thanksgiving.  We pray.  We have a congregational reading of Psalm 107 interspersed between the songs.  And we have our elders read from the leaves at four different points in the devotional.

This year, one leaf I did not have read aloud made the following comment:

“I’m thankful for murderers.  Not because they kill people.  I hate that, but just because they set a certin balence in the world.  They make it to where we don’t over-populate.  It’s called saving the animals and the economy.”

It is printed in a “female” hand, like that of a teenager.  It is unsigned.  I do not believe it is a bad joke.  I suspect I know which one of our teen girls wrote it for she has always looked at the world sideways and comes from a troubled family.

Regardless of “who,” the content is troubling and well illustrates how the world has a greater influence on the thinking of some of our members than the Word does.  The challenge is how to minister to those of our members who are still falling for Satan’s invite to take a bite of the fruit of the “tree of knowledge”.

 

Loneliness can be felt when one is not loved or liked. One can feel lonely when there is a feeling of abandonment or there is much conflict at home. What is the meaning or purpose of one’s life?

The trouble in the lives of some families simply can’t be described. I have been fortunate in my growing up years wherein thoughts like the one expressed above never entered into my mind. I was not unlike other teenagers, but these kinds of thoughts were foreign to me.

As a preacher and an elder how can I help?

As a parent how can I help?

As a grandparent how can I help?

As a peer how can I help?

I don’t have a particular answer. I know what helps me, and I am convinced that what helps me will help one who thinks like this. Is there something physiologically wrong with her? Perhaps. Is there some psychologically wrong with her? Perhaps. Maybe both apply. If so, then medical attention might be required.

On the other hand, spiritually speaking, the Lord has the only solution available to man (both males and females) that will help one in this life and pull them through and into the life God has prepared for those who love Him.