Loneliness…

I have been thinking a great deal about loneliness lately.  For the last couple of weeks, I have been away from my wife and kids during the 5 day stretch of the week and then going home on the weekends.  Unfortunately, I still have another 2.5 weeks of this to go.  It wasn’t so bad at first because I was meeting new people and had a lot going on to distract me from the fact that the ones I love most aren’t with me. As the days continues to pass by, he feelings of loneliness and separation continue dominate.

Dictionary.com defines lonely this way:

–adjective, -li·er, -li·est.

1.

affected with, characterized by, or causing a depressing feeling of being alone; lonesome.

2.

destitute of sympathetic or friendly companionship, intercourse, support, etc.: a lonely exile.

3.

lone; solitary; without company; companionless.

4.

remote from places of human habitation; desolate; unfrequented; bleak: a lonely road.

5.

standing apart; isolated: a lonely tower.

Admittedly, more than a few of those words describe how I feel during the days away from my family.  Honestly it sucks.  However, I can’t help but think of Jesus. I can’t imagine a person being more lonely than when Jesus was on the cross.  He was dying, and he was abandoned by his followers.  Those that loved him fled.  All of those people he healed and helped were no where to be found.  In fact, in an moment shrowded in mystery, Jesus even felt abandoned by God.  In Mark 15:34 we read Jesus’ words:

At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, , why have you forsaken me?”  (NRSV)

I can’t imagine a more lonely moment in all of history. A moment that was endured on our behalf so that all that was perverted by sin could be made new, so that Shalom could be restored.  Jesus intentionally endured the loneliest moment ever experienced by anyone so that we (along with all of creation) might be in right relationship with God.  In light of this, my own loneliness doesn’t seem so bad and my heart is actually filled with gratitude to my my savior who endured the pain and suffering of the cross so that we might have life.  Thank you Jesus.

Life without Grandma…

Sorry I have been absent this week, but my family is in morning  the loss of my Grandma.  She battled the disease for 2 years before she succumbed to it on Wednesday April 14th.  Admittedly, it has been a rough couple of months for our family with the sickness of our daughter, the miscarriage of our baby, and the recent loss of Grandma.  I appreciate all of you have sent words of sympathy and well wishes…your prayers have been particularly appreciated.

Today I preached on the passage in Mark 4 where Jesus calms the storm.  This is one of the days where I really needed to here the “Peace, be still” phrase.  These three words have been really meaningful to me over the last month or two.  Every time I think the storm that is my life right now is raging beyond what I can handle, I here those words Jesus said in the boat…”Peace, be still”

I think I am going to be spending a lot of time with those words over the coming days and weeks.

May we all find the peace that surpasses all understanding in the middle of storms through Jesus.

P.S. I loved the new Doctor…He was mad and lovable and funny and to quote the previous two Doctors, He was “Fantastic” and “Brilliant”