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All human beings are alone. No other person will completely feel like we do, think like we do, act like we do. Each of us is unique, and our aloneness is the other side of our uniqueness. The question is whether we let our aloneness become loneliness or whether we allow it to lead us into solitude. Loneliness is painful; solitude is peaceful. Loneliness makes us cling to others in desperation; solitude allows us to respect others in their uniqueness and create community.
Letting our aloneness grow into solitude and not into loneliness is a lifelong struggle. It requires conscious choices about whom to be with, what to study, how to pray, and when to ask for counsel. But wise choices will help us to find the solitude where our hearts can grow in love.
A Memory Of Joplin
The snow begins falling in elephant-ear
flakes, dusting low branches of the back-yard
maple. Harder and harder,
the snow swirls down
from white-delicious clouds. Then flakes
became smaller, and silently
the snow covers the blades of the tall, yellow grass.
When the wind blows, the drifts grow deeper.
At least, next to the deck, they do. And the deeper they
grow the more I miss the girl, warm in her snowsuit.
She’s waiting on a sled in the snow
for me to admire her “kitty-cat mittens.”
from Paper Snowflakes, available from Southern Hum Press
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