If Loneliness Were Everlasting

No doubt all of us, at times, have experienced a sense of loneliness. But⎯”What if loneliness were everlasting?”

Familiar, and frequently quoted, but ever wonderful, are these words said by our Saviour: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

There are many phrases that might be singled out for special mention and meaning, but this we select as having profoundly much of meaning for us all: “…that where I am, there ye may be also.” Indeed, it is the very essence of the meaning of family love, and of cherished associations and of their eternal continuance⎯that where they are, there we may be also.

Even though we and our loved ones live everlastingly, how much would it mean if where they are we could not be also⎯now⎯or ever? “What if loneliness were everlasting?”

We are never always by the side of those we love. The pattern of life always includes some separations⎯separations made bearable by their assurance of coming back. But take away that assurance, and there is anguished emptiness.

A mother’s love for the children; a father’s for his family; young people beginning together; devoted lifelong companions⎯it is the love of such as these, as well as the separate consciousness of ourselves, that gives life so much of its meaning. And since we shall always be ourselves, it is our Father’s purpose that those most loved in life shall be ours, always and forever, as we live to be entitled to the company and companionship of those who mean the most. And the loneliness we sometimes feel with loved ones away is softened by the blessed assurance that where they are, there we may be also.