Spiritual Sunday: Loneliness

Loneliness is a piercing, universal emotion. We can be surrounded by hundreds of people- even friends and loved ones- and still feel very alone. Married, single, rich, poor, those we envy, and those we try so hard to love...loneliness comes to everyone, regardless of circumstances. I sing with the Tabernacle Choir on Temple Square (formally known as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir). When we can’t make a Thursday rehearsal, we observe instead of sing the weekly Sunday broadcast. Because of parent/teacher conferences this week, I’m observing this morning. I walked in to practice feeling very low. It has been a really hard week. I had this idea of loneliness on my mind- and not the, “I’m single” loneliness- but more of the, “I don’t know how to communicate the pain I’m feeling” loneliness. One of the songs we started practicing this morning is called, “No Man is an Island.” The first lyrics read, “No man is an island, no man stands alone. For each man’s joy is joy to me, each man’s grief is my own.” Whether or not we understand exactly the type of loneliness someone is feeling, we ALL get what loneliness feels like. Every person we know- or even glance at once across a room of strangers- gets it. And that knowledge alone is enough to help the loneliness dissipate. The next verse says, “We need one another, so I will defend each man as my brother, each man as my friend.” Let us take comfort in one another!