Being Alone with the Alone

Summary

Most of us go into the wilderness at some point in our lives, but there are at least two kinds of wilderness experiences. The first kind of wilderness experience is the one most of us do not want. We get divorced, and the divorce is difficult. Our best friend dies, and we mourn for several years. We lose our job, and we get angry. In this wilderness, we feel lonely, forsaken, despondent.

The honest truth is that this kind of wilderness experience is lonely. We have to go through it by ourselves, just as Jesus had to be in the wilderness for 40 days by himself. Sure, we can talk with others about the wilderness we’re in; we can ask others to pray for us; we can graciously receive their offers of kindness. Even so, other people cannot magically take away our loss, our loneliness. The experience is ours, and we must get through it largely on our own.