Alone Together – March 04, 2001
It’s an irony of modern life that, while some of us have almost no time to ourselves, others have almost more than they’d like. When being alone feels uncomfortable, it’s helpful to ask, “Who’s really here with me?”
The writer Hugh Prather has said: “To me, being alone means togetherness—the re-coming together of myself and nature. . . . the reuniting of myself with other selves.”1 Quieting our initial loneliness, we can discover that we’re actually in the best of company. Looking within our hearts, we find whole assemblies of loved ones who cherish us in return—family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers. Neither distance, time, nor death itself can separate us from these companions. By opening our hearts to their love, we can continue to receive comfort and pleasure from these associations.
Most of all, of course, in solitude we can experience togetherness with the Divine Spirit, who never leaves us. Jesus frequently left His disciples in order to be strengthened by private talk with His Heavenly Father. In the desert, on a mountaintop, or in a small boat at sea, He valued being alone so that He could be together with the Almighty. That blessing may also be ours. Whenever we choose, we can “steal away home” in our hearts and be certain of a loving welcome.
Program #3733
1. In Notes to Myself (New York: Bantam Books, 1990).