Alone In The Crowd — Morning Devotions

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Transcript

Have you noticed that during a difficult experience, some people withdraw from others and become like an island to protect themselves from harm and hurt? It’s just as Simon and Garfunkel sang in 1966, I am a rock, I am an island, and a rock feels no pain. And an island never cries.

It’s actually a really nice song. It’s a good song about loneliness, detachment, and isolation, and it prompts the question, why do some of us move away from others? I think it probably happens to all of us at one point. We just want to be alone and take stock. If that’s a temporary experience, OK, but becoming withdrawn and curtailing contact with others is not a healthy thing.

Why do some of us move away from others?

It’s now more than 400 years since John Donne, the celebrated poet and preacher, was appointed Dean of the Saint Paul’s Cathedral. Not long after his appointment and shortly after the death of his daughter Lucy, John himself was taken seriously ill, quite possibly from typhus, and for many days in late 1623, he was very close to death before recovering, and he was appointed dean of the cathedral till he died in 1631.

And throughout his time John Donne was determined to reflect and write about his illness, and his most famous meditation is called today No man is an island. He wrote, No man is an island entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, so you probably know that saying – No man is an island.

Generally we use these verses in a positive sense to mean that people are designed to thrive in community, not alone, and it’s a good message. We do function better in life, surrounded by good people who will assist us. We have a problem and we want to live our life in our own terms without help from others. It’s a bit like the hit musical and movie The Greatest Showman.

And that musical gives us a glance into this individualistic mentality, and one of the songs says, When the sharpest words want to cut me down, I’m gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out. I am brave. I am bruised. I am who I’m meant to be. This is me. Look out, cause here I come, and I’m marching on to the beat of the drum. I’m not scared to be seen. I make no apologies. This is me. You might know that song?

No man is an island

Isolation often breeds feelings of loneliness and despair. When you withdraw from others, you might experience increased anxiety or depression, and these emotions can create a cycle where the more isolated you feel, the harder it is to reach out. The Bible explains this struggle actually. For example, Psalm 25:16 in the Old Testament.

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It was a time when David was having a very difficult time. He was being hunted by Saul, a madman who wanted to kill him, and he wrote in the Psalm, and it was a prayer. Turn to me, O God, and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Then there was Elijah. In 1 King 19, the prophet Elijah fled into the wilderness following threats from the Queen Jezebel. He felt alone, believing he was the only prophet left at that time.

God said, No, you’re not the only one. God reassured Elijah that there were still people left. And then there was Job, Job’s profound loneliness during his suffering, physical suffering. His friends came to comfort him initially, but later they condemned him, isolated him with their critiques. Job’s story illustrates how suffering alone can deepen the feelings of despair and loneliness, and we also have the book of Proverbs.

It highlights the importance of companionship, and there’s a famous verse in Proverbs 27 as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. So I think this reflects the necessity of surrounding yourself with others for your own personal growth. What can you do to stop being alone in the crowd? Try engaging in a church group, a volunteer activity, or some kind of support network, and these will create opportunities for meaningful interactions with others.

Let’s Pray

Heavenly Father, today, I acknowledge that there are many lonely people. There can be a crowd, but you can still be lonely. Help us not to be isolated and shut ourselves away from others, but to reach out and to find valuable friendships and connections, others who will help us and walk the path of life with us. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

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