***
Some health officials have described our country as being at war with the Coronavirus. What makes it so dangerous is the fact that it’s an invisible enemy.
We can’t see it, we can’t touch it, we can’t taste it. We can only feel it… after we’ve been infected.
As a result, we’ve been instructed to self-quarantine, to retreat into our homes, to lock our doors until further notice.
Although that may largely protect us from the virus itself, there’s another silent killer among us.
***
Loneliness.
***
Loneliness is an indefinite state of sadness; that feeling that something is missing; that we have nothing to do, nowhere to go, nobody to talk to; like we’re alone in the universe.
It can hit us like a sack of bricks, especially while quarantined.
But it doesn’t have to.
***
It may feel like I’m splitting hairs here, but there’s a world of difference between loneliness and aloneness.
While both imply a type of absence, loneliness makes us feel isolated.
Aloneness, on the other hand, means being by yourself without feeling lonely; you still feel connected to others.
***
This must’ve been what Jesus felt quite often.
A sense of aloneness.
Although he was separated from his heavenly Father, for example, he didn’t feel lonely. As he says in the Gospel today, “The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone.”
Jesus remained connected to his Father through prayer.
These were the moments when he poured his heart out, when he listened to his Father, when he begged for strength, when he felt the deepest sense of intimacy and belonging.
Although they were separated, Jesus remained connected psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually to his Father through prayer.
***
That’s also what we must do – remain connected to the Lord and to one another. Say a prayer. Pick up the phone. Have a real conversation. Be proactive in reaching out.
A friend of mine has even started scrolling through his contacts, calling every person he can just to say, “hello.”
We combat the Coronavirus by staying home. But we combat loneliness by reaching out to God and to one another.
So who might you contact today?