Isolation and God
Isolation at Glacier Point, CA, Author Ben Bowens rndmben13, Source https://unsplash.com/photos/ooxY4kyg79g (CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication)
During this coronavirus pandemic, many have experienced loneliness, isolation, and alienation. The following is excerpted from an articled titled “We Belong to God – and one another” by Joseph Venerosa which appeared in the March/April 2019 edition of Maryknoll Magazine:
“…One of the ironies of modern life is that while the world is more populated than ever, people feel more isolated and alienated from one another. One of the worst feelings is of not belonging…
In the Gospels, we see Jesus…going to the margins of society, to the sinner and outcast, the sick and the poor, and accepting people where they are, without preconditions, and making them family….So when did we become such strangers to one another – and to God?”
“…[W]e feel far from God, who is always looking for us, even when we, like Adam, try to hide because of our sin…Over and over again, the Bible recounts tales of God seeking out wayward humans…
Biblical accounts of banishment, exile, wandering and exodus underscore the basic human condition of alienation. We don’t feel like we belong – anywhere. Like strangers in a strange land, we yearn for some paradise lost long before we were born. But are we really lost? Or is that sense of being far from God (who is everywhere) just the illusion…caused by sin?
Over the centuries humans have come up with more and more elaborate rituals to try to restore the relationship with the God who never went away. Sin blinds us to the truth that there is absolutely nothing we can do to make God stop loving us.
The Incarnation is the coming forth of God to be with us in our self-imposed exile. While the Crucifixion is humanity’s ultimate ‘No!’ to God, the Resurrection is God’s eternal ‘Yes!’ to us. Salvation is the blessed realization that we belong to God and to one another. Our sense of alienation evaporates when we accept that God really loves us.”
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A Lawyer's Prayers 
This is beautiful! I needed to read this right now, Anna. Thank you! ❤
So happy the post touched a chord, Linda! ❤
Wow, thanks for the above, Anna.
Strange, just yesterday I listened on the radio to the Beatles’ ‘Eleanor Rigby’ and decided to print out the lyrics… ‘Ah, look at all the lonely people… All the lonely people, Where do they all come from?’ And the powerlessness and irrelevance of Father McKenzie (and the Church) at the time.
As always, you have pointed us in the right direction and to the ultimate answer.
I am happy you enjoyed the post, Erroll. I was especially struck by the author’s observation that the Bible is filled w/ wanderers who exemplify man’s alienation from God.
G’day Anna, thank you for sharing.
“The Incarnation is the coming forth of God to be with us in our self-imposed exile. While the Crucifixion is humanity’s ultimate ‘No!’ to God, the Resurrection is God’s eternal ‘Yes!’ to us.” – This is so good!
Stay connected to the Vine.
Yes, I thought it was beautifully expressed. Glad you liked it, too, Evad.
Amen! What wonderful truth you have so beautifully written.🙏🏻❤️
I cannot take credit for the essay. But I agree that it contains wonderful truth. ❤
🙏🏻❤️
Ah yes, it is by Maryknoll Magazine. Noted.❤️🥰
“While the Crucifixion is humanity’s ultimate ‘No!’ to God, the Resurrection is God’s eternal ‘Yes!’ to us.”
Those are great words!