When we are lonely...

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Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, 
for in you my soul takes refuge; 
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, 
until the destroying storms pass by. 
I cry to God Most High, 
to God who fulfills his purpose for me. 
He will send from heaven and save me, 
he will put to shame those who trample on me. Selah 
God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness.
~ Psalm 57:1 - 3
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I have often wondered what God's experience was like prior to the initial words, "Let there be light."

Darkness as we know it, can be defined in many ways.  Probably the darkest part of my life has been the times when I simply felt alone.  It must have been overwhelmingly dark during that time for God.  Sometimes I wonder if God looks back and thinks, "I remember that time..."

Darkness effects all of us in different ways.  We know that there are clinical reasons why we need light, just as there are reasons that we need one another.  Some of us fill our lives with "stuff" to avoid those times, and some people even need "white" noise just so that they feel normal.  

God experienced a new loneliness through Jesus.  When Jesus came close to his own death, he cried out: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Still in love he held on to the truth that God was with him and said: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."

The loneliness of the cross led Jesus to the resurrection. As we grow older we are often invited by Jesus to follow him into this loneliness, the loneliness in which God is too close to be experienced by our limited hearts and minds. When this happens, let us pray for the grace to surrender our spirits to God as Jesus did.

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams

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Dear Lord, even on the darkest of days, may Your light help me to remember that I am never alone.  Amen.

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