Issue 1,000 – Alone – March 7, 2023
Wow, it’s hard to believe we’ve hit a thousand issues. I restarted Gleanings in March 2020 as a two-week exercise during Covid; the topic was John 17, the Lord’s prayer.
I say restarted because I wrote daily devotionals and Bible teaching for a group of online readers before there were blogs when the internet was still a relatively new thing (yes, that long ago). After ten consecutive years of near-daily writing and nearly 4,000 issues, it was time to take a break. I never expected to restart.
Sometimes the devotionals would be topical, based on life experiences or observations from nature. Others might be a series on a topic such as the “Old Testament Names of God.” Still, others would be expositional and explore various Scripture passages in depth.
A few of the current thousand issues have been flashbacks to, or reprints of, the original series, but most were written the day they were published. Some have been profound and well written, and other issues not so well written, almost embarrassingly bad, but each has come from the heart.
Some of you have read all 1,000 issues. Some regular readers have also read many of the original series. I am grateful for the encouragement and support I have received. It has been a blessing to answer questions, learn how God works in your lives, and hear how Gleanings has encouraged or challenged you.
My goal has always been to give glory to God while providing encouragement and challenging us in our mutual faith walk. It will be interesting to see how the next 1,000 go (should the Lord want it to continue that long).
Enough of that; let’s move on to this morning’s topic.
A “reality” television series, Alone, has been running for a few years. The subtext is “Can you survive in the wilderness alone?” People are placed in isolated locations with minimal equipment and must survive alone. The one who lasts the longest wins a cash prize.
Watching the contestants use their varied skills and battle their environment makes for exciting television. Having to do it solo makes it much more complicated than it would be with a team. As often as not, the solitude drove the participants to quit long before battling nature could do it.
Humanity was never designed to be a solo act.
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Genesis 2:18
We were designed to work in partnership and live in community. One of the greatest ills facing our society today is loneliness.
Some solo time and some “me” time are very healthy. Taking time apart from others can be an excellent idea just to be still, meditate, and recharge. Yet, too much loneliness or alone time can be emotionally and spiritually devastating.
It is ironic that loneliness is epidemic because the world’s population is larger than ever, and we are connected electronically to people worldwide in ways that only science fiction could imagine in my youth.
People are addicted to their social media, but many don’t have any significant form of actual face-to-face relationships at all. People are lonely and desperate to have someone listen to them.
People are spending fortunes on counsellors and mental health practitioners to have anybody listen to them and validate their existence.
Loneliness knows no barriers. It doesn’t respect social or economic class, skin colour or culture. A person doesn’t even have to be alone to be lonely. Many people live lives full of people, but no one listens to them or shares their stories.
One of the greatest gifts we can give to each other is to take time to listen. I’ve lost track of the number of times perfect strangers have shared their life stories with me just because I took a few moments to listen.
There are ways to listen effectively, but anyone willing to take the time can listen to someone else.
Take some time today and listen to someone. You might change their life and yours.
Be Blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
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All contents, “Gleanings From The Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2023 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin Gleanings From The Word.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version (ESV).
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