In Reference to: 16 August 1992 - BEING A CHRISTIAN CAN MAKE A PERSON FEEL LONELY IN THIS WORLD

A truly wonderful message, Frank and Mary... thank you. And certainly one that isn't at all confined to Christians. There is so much good teaching in it.

For those of us who have found it hard to be in the world (while not being of the world isn't nearly as much of a problem), I especially have learned, as you wrote, "Remember, we are just to be God's witnesses, and not His prosecutors." Our strong drive and desire to "do", to "make things happen", to "create change", especially in the face of cruelty and injustice, is natural and not a negative trait, but it's not always the right one to advance, since there are things in the world that, for whatever reason, we cannot change as things are now, and trying to change them only exacerbates the evil we see because of the backlash it creates. So all we can do is speak our truth and let it stand on its own, to be heard or ignored or trampled on.

I suppose I'm fortunate to be a solitary and somewhat reclusive as my preference, so that being an "outcast" from groups of people ... which I have felt in many circles, because of my vegetarianism and because of my general pro-life stances .... hasn't felt like "punishment." I've found that the company of animals and even plants, and a strong awareness of Spirit has made it so that I don't think I've ever felt truly lonely in terms of lacking companionship, or needing acceptance. Even in childhood, my fantasies were about growing up to live alone in the woods with many animals like the hermits of old.

So in that regard, being around these ones who do accept me and seem to far better know me, is far preferable to being in the midst of people who look just like me, but feel to me like they're from another planet in a galaxy far, far away. Some of you may know and recall that I became vegetarian in 1965 at 14 years old. It was years before I even met another vegetarian, so I learned at a fairly young age what it meant to be an "outsider." Again, it may be just my good fortune to have possessed an innate characteristic that made that never bother me, even during those teenaged years when acceptance seems to be such a priority.

The loneliness that I do experience is in the realm of consciousness .... it comes from the sense that true awareness is shared by only a minority in the world. Awareness of the preciousness of all God's creation is painfully lacking in the world, and I think those of us who have that awareness feel such inadequacy and so often feeble and even useless here. Which brings me back to the sermon's statement, "We are here just to be God's witnesses, and not His prosecutors."

Knowing that we now "see through a glass darkly" means accepting that there are answers we will never have in this life, and mysteries we will never know, and that this may be painful and difficult. That's what it means to be faithful, I imagine... to plow through all of that rough stuff with our focus never wavering from what we know is good and true.

Anyway, thank you again for a wonderful sermon, and thank you for hearing my thoughts.

Blessings & Best,

Juli

Go on to: Comments by Kris Haley - 5 Aug 2007