“Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song.” ~ Plato
Being mortal, we are all used to the fact — like it or not — that we have a lot of flaws inherent in our very humanity. We are weak. We are powerless. We are prone to making mistakes. We are filled with fears.
One of the fears that most people have is the fear of being left out, of being alone. Watch children as they grow and develop. They do everything that they can to be noticed. They want to be the center of attention. When they begin school, they do all that they can to assert themselves into social situations. Not to be picked as a teammate for games delivers a real blow to a child’s psyche.
As we continue to grow and mature, the fear of being left out remains and is often very strong. It guides our choices, sometimes incredibly bad choices. A person would rather choose to do something wrong in order to belong than to do something right and be ostracized.
As we mature even more and begin to enter our elderly years, you can see the fear of being alone operative in the lives of couples. Spouses fear that the other will pass away first, leaving them alone. Even though they have other family members and friends, the loss of a spouse can be very disorienting and shattering.
But, our faith reminds us that at any stage of our lives — childhood, teens, young adult, adult, old age — we are never truly alone. Even if our parents pass away, even if our friends desert us, even if our spouses pass away, God is always there. He knows us intimately and loves us completely. He is that “other voice” that whispers back to us in the song in our hearts. He gives us peace and love and encouragement.
As God is always there for us, He asks us to do all that we can to be there for one another. We might have many people in our lives. There are those who have no one. We can be another heart whispering back to their loneliness, letting them know that they are not alone; rather, that they are valued.
FAITH ACTION: Do not let someone think that they have to go through life alone and unaided. If you see someone in need of a friend, step forward and be a friend to that person today.