Ever since Adam and Eve hid from God in the Garden, we have fled from company and taken refuge behind things in case we really find out who we are. We fill our lives with stuff; we are relentlessly busy; we scroll down our phones endlessly surfing and searching. We are not that comfortable with silence and stillness - lest we face our neediness.
And loneliness is taking more and more of a grip on our souls. Of course, as with much that is wrong with us, the pandemic has only made matters worse. We are an orphan generation, it would appear, who are alone, unparented, and scared - afraid of what we might see as we look in the mirror of our own awareness.
The best expression of Christian faith is set against this. It’s never ourselves on our own seeking our own rescue or (horrible phrase) ‘self-actualisation’.
No we are surrounded by saints and angels who cheer us on our way and who are closer than we think, and more involved in our lives than we dare believe. There is a huge grandstand of those living ones who have gone before us, who have run the race and completed their course, who now rally behind us in prayer. Their examples cheer us. Their unseen presence means we are never alone. We are never left to ourselves. We live before a huge number, who desire to see God’s perfect purposes fulfilled in us - to his glory!
“Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laid and magnify thy glorious name, evermore praising thee and saying: ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Glory be to thee, O Lord Most High. Amen.’”
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