Poverty of the West

It has been a long time since I have written, and it's rather embarrassing given part of my New Year's Resolution was to have more fun with my blog.  This isn't necessarily a "fun" post, but I find it thought provoking so I thought I would share.

Last night, I sat down to watch the evening news with my husband over a glass of champagne and chocolate, mind you.  Hey, I live in Europe!  The French don't need an excuse for a glass of bubbly, so neither shall I...

Back to the news, we were watching news about a college student who called the police after seeing his roommate with a gun and ammunition.  The roommate apparently was planning a massacre, but ended up taking his own life instead.  The family of the man said he was a loner, and the journalist acknowledged that he wasn't a friendly person, and didn't have a single friend on campus.  He was an "outsider".  http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-florida-student-massacre-20130318,0,949670.story

It makes me sad to think of the pain this young man was going through, and the pain he has caused and could have caused many others.  Having had bouts of depression in the past, I suspect he was severely depressed and untreated.

We were made for belonging.  Made to be loved and acknowledged.  In A Simple Path, Mother Theresa says,

"The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy it is being unwanted, unloved and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair and hopelessness is love.  There are many in the world dying for a piece of bread, but many more dying for a little love.  The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty-it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There's a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God."

In the Search for Significance, Author Robert McGee concludes...

"The fear of rejection is rapid and the problem loneliness is one of the most dangerous and widespread problems in America today...

Our modern society has responded inadequately to rejection and loneliness. Our response has been outer directed - meaning we try to copy the customs, the dress, the ideas and behavioral patterns of a particular group allowing the consensus of the group to determine what is correct for us, but conforming to a group will not fully provide the security that we so desperately seek.  Only God can provide that through his people, his Word, his Spirit and his timing."

When we base our self-worth on God's love and acceptance, we find security, rest and immense freedom!  We can also live as originals, creatives and non-conformists!

I encourage you to find a lonely person, and love them today.  This could be done in small ways such as making eye contact and smiling at a passerby, inviting a neighbor over for coffee, or getting to know an "outsider" over lunch...be an includer and help heal our lonely world.