(I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.)Who was it that said, "no man is an island"? I'd like to know what he or she meant.
Because sometimes I really feel like an island--you know, a piece of land completely surrounded by water. Disconnected from 'the mainland'.
There are times when I really feel isolated and distant from the rest of the world.
Yeah, we have friends and loved ones that may take a ferry ride over to visit my island periodically. But, at some point, they go home and we go back to being an island again.
Though this isn't the greatest feeling in the world, there are some valuable lessons I've learned...
1. Our feelings are exaggerators. Like a magnifying class, our emotions make things appear bigger than they really are in order to get our attention. So, your feelings about the situation are usually more dramatic than the situation itself. In other words, you feel more alone than you really are.
2. Most people are poor communicators. Most of us are not effective in communicating simple matters, let alone heavier issues like love, pain, etc. Our feeling of loneliness is often a result of not hearing or seeing others communicate love. But despite the poor communication, the love really is there.
3. Alone-ness is not such a bad thing. In fact, as Myles Monroe teaches, until you are comfortable with yourself, it will be difficult for you to make a good friend, teammate, or spouse for anyone else. Until you love yourself, how can you expect someone else to get on their ferry and want to stay on your island?
2 comments:
This passage speaks to the fact that God created man in a seemingly idyllic state. While man (Adam) was responsible for watching over the Garden of Eden and had the capacity to do great things, as he was made in the image of God, God determined that his Garden tender needed a helpmate.
God determined after His creation of the universe and all in it that "it is not good for a man to be alone. I will make a helpmate suitable for him"
Though man was a "good creation" in an unfettered state, God determined that he alone is NOT AN ISLAND. In other words, Adam, by himself, does not a paradise make.
This observation paves the way for the creation of Eve.
The parallel of this parable to our own lives is that even if we create our own paradise in our lives BEFORE marriage and BEFORE kids, the grand design of the universe does not encourage us to experience our bliss in complete isolation (darkness).
We must walk to the light and see the inherent benefit of placing other people and mates in our life to build/restore our character.
No one prefers to take their last breath on Earth as an old, wise, and LONELY human being. Such a demise would be both tragic and pitiable.
Life tends to be more palatable when you fellowship with others and ride its merry-go-round with a few other friends, onlookers, family members, etc.
BG Group Member.
Reading this kind of makes me feel sad, especially on the holidays.
This holiday wasnt the best for me, but that phrase *no man is an island* really meant something to me.
Its something my grandparents always used to say.
This year for the first time, I understood that it meant that we, meaning neither u nor I, am alone in this world. We are all interconnected in some way. We are not alone.
However, this year, I decided that I would shed some love towards my fellow man and thats exactly what I did.
I blotted out my negative images, and focused on making someone's negative image more bright and positive.
Shed a little lite, if you know what I mean.
Bottom line is, it worked and I had one of the best holidays ever!
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