"The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty--it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There's a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God." -- Mother Teresa, A Simple Path: Mother Teresa
Often I have written about loneliness.
It is something that has felt like a curse for many years. For so long I have howled
at God, pleaded with God, wept, and gnashed my teeth. In the early days I did
anything and everything I could to escape loneliness. I ran around like a chicken whose head has
been has been severed with a hatchet, spilling blood on the ground and on
anyone near me. It wasn’t pretty. This frantic effort
to escape loneliness continued for years in different degrees and took different
forms. I got tired and stopped the
frantic search for fulfillment, but still the loneliness continued. Then I went
to the monastery and it all made sense.
When
I went away intentionally and spent a week in silence, I began to see God’s purpose
for where He has placed me. God gave me loneliness so I could be alone with
Him. I felt the utter peace and fulfillment of spending time in quiet with the
Lord. Now I crave solitude. And now I thank Him because I realize that what I once thought was a
curse is actually a blessing. I am continually amazed by how perfect is His work.
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