Crowded Loneliness
Several years ago, I was listening to a Christian teacher talk about the concept of crowded loneliness. Crowded loneliness was his term for being around many people, but never connecting.
The lecturer went on to show that modern lives exemplify this crowded loneliness because we have severely fractured lives. We have our work crowd, our church crowd, our neighbor crowd, our "back in the day" crowd. With the advent of social media, we are constantly in contact with hundreds or in some cases, thousands of people that we would not otherwise see, converse with, or even think about on a regular basis. All of this has done very little to deepen connection but has made life much more crowded.
There are times, particularly as a pastor, when I feel the crowdedness of life, but the hollowness of a lack of connection. Lots of people, lots of conversation, but still a deafening distance that is found wanting. Spirital directors often deceive us by saying that connectedness can be met exclusively in the spiritual realm, through a robust relationship with God. However, Biblically, Adam had a robust relationship with God but his aloneness was the only thing in creation that God specifically comments as "not good". We are created for connection.
Today, I challenge you to look at your relationships and dare to make a deeper connection in the midst of a crowd of conversatons.
God bless,
Pastor M Traylor
The lecturer went on to show that modern lives exemplify this crowded loneliness because we have severely fractured lives. We have our work crowd, our church crowd, our neighbor crowd, our "back in the day" crowd. With the advent of social media, we are constantly in contact with hundreds or in some cases, thousands of people that we would not otherwise see, converse with, or even think about on a regular basis. All of this has done very little to deepen connection but has made life much more crowded.
There are times, particularly as a pastor, when I feel the crowdedness of life, but the hollowness of a lack of connection. Lots of people, lots of conversation, but still a deafening distance that is found wanting. Spirital directors often deceive us by saying that connectedness can be met exclusively in the spiritual realm, through a robust relationship with God. However, Biblically, Adam had a robust relationship with God but his aloneness was the only thing in creation that God specifically comments as "not good". We are created for connection.
Today, I challenge you to look at your relationships and dare to make a deeper connection in the midst of a crowd of conversatons.
God bless,
Pastor M Traylor
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