Exploring Street Theology

Loneliness of childhood

There is a saying that “Even in a crowd, you can be alone inside your own head”. This is another thing that I have noticed in many a school playground; all around you can witness the joyous interaction of youngsters at play, but now and again you will spy a lonely isolated soul right in the middle of things with a forlorn look on their face.

Clinical psychologist Dr Rachel Andrew says, “Commonly, children will say they feel they don’t belong and that they’re not in tune with peers – there’s a strong sense of disconnection. And it’s not just older children reporting these feelings – children as young as three or four will say things like they don’t have any friends or that nobody likes them. It’s quite common when they start pre-school or primary school because they’re naturally introduced to wider social situations, which some find hard to navigate.”

So what does the bible say about loneliness. Right in the beginning of humankind’s unfolding story we read in Genesis, “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Later the Psalmist later wrote, “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.”

Hebrews 13:5 bings a wonderful assurance for those who feel deep loneliness; here is how the Message paraphrases the text, “Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote, God is there, ready to help; I’m fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?”

I turn again to the writings of Frederick Beuchner who writes: ‘That you can be lonely in a crowd, maybe especially there, is readily observable. You can also be lonely with your oldest friends, or your family, even with the person you love most in the world. To be lonely is to be aware of an emptiness that takes more than people to fill. It is to sense that something is missing which you cannot name.

 

“By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion," sings the Psalmist (137:1). Maybe in the end it is Zion that we're lonely for, the place we know best by longing for it, where at last we become who we are, where finally we find home.’

Dear God,Thank you that you see us right where we are, in the midst of our pain and struggle, in the middle of our desert land. Thank you that you have not forgotten us and never will. Forgive us for not trusting you, for doubting your goodness, or not believing you’re really there. We choose to set our eyes on you today. We choose joy and peace when the whispered lies come and say that we should have no joy or peace.

Thank you that you care for us and your love over us is so great. We confess our need for you. Fill us fresh with your Spirit, renew our hearts and minds in your truth. We ask for your hope and comfort to continue to heal our hearts where they’ve been broken. Give us the courage to face another day, knowing that with you before us and behind us, we have nothing to fear. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.