The alarm goes off and we rise, some of us more quickly than others, to start the day. Coffee. The gym. A shower. A commute. We all have a routine, a way we start the day, and with it our interactions with people. Every day we move among people. We smile and chat about what we did this weekend. We talk about “the game” or the fam. We stand in line and make small talk, at least I do. We text ,talk, and Tweet. We catch up on Facebook and post the obligatory “LOL’s” and “Likes.” We know what friends all over the country are doing, eating, and thinking in a real-time, T.M.I. kind of way. Just a normal day, a day in which we are surrounded by and connected to people. There is just one nagging question. If we are so connected, why is it that we feel so disconnected? So unfulfilled? So completely alone.

I am always struck by my own ability to be in a crowd, among people I know and love and yet feel completely alone. I think the feeling comes, at least for me, because I am not really seen. People see me. They know what I am doing and experiencing. Yet, they don’t really see me. They don’t really know me. Who I am, who I really am I keep hidden. I hide that person beneath smiles and laughs, underneath Tweets about eating the biggest burrito ever, and statuses that tell people the funny things my kids said. I pretend these show you the real me—calm, secure, slightly annoyed at people who drive slow in the fast lane—but, these aren’t the real me. The real me is fragile, insecure, unsure of what to do next. That’s the real me, the me I keep hidden because I am not sure you will like him, love him, accept him. And so, I am alone. I am not the only one. I am becoming convinced that we live life alone, surrounded by people we know.

There is one who does see us, really see us. He sees through the status posts and tweets about Grande Fraps and killer deals. He sees down to the insecurities and questions. He sees it all and draws near nevertheless so that we are not truly alone. He whispers love into our ear. He squeezes our hand to assure us of His presence. He wraps His arms around us to dispel any thoughts that we are anything but loved. He calls me to stop hiding myself so that others might see the beauty of who I truly am. What is most amazing is that He does it all through others. He whispers through the voice of a loved one. He touches with the hands of a friend. He hugs with the arms of a child. Through it all He reminds us that we are not alone. It is in receiving this love and responding that in turn He makes Himself known to others, that He cries to the world, “You are not alone.”

A fellow traveler,

Blake
Spiritual Formation Pastor