Memorial of Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop

Lectionary: 332

The LORD God said: “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.”

Several months ago there was a minor furor among the chattering classes about a virtual fellowship of men who believe they are unfairly denied their right to women. A "virtual fellowship," of course, is not real. It exists in the fantasy world of the Internet. These guys "meet" online to commiserate their loneliness and inability to engage with women in the real world. 

But illusions sometimes have real world consequences. One of the members, pursuing his dream, committed a heinous crime.

Americans are dying of loneliness. Just plug that statement into an Internet search and see how much documented tragedy you find. The nation that fancies itself to be "Christian" shuns community and companionship, preferring the loneliness of Facebook friends and channel surfing.

Many desperately hope their dogs and cats might be their friends, a work for which animals are entirely unsuited.  Because of that belief, which in another age would have been termed heretical, many pets suffer barbaric mistreatment. Their owners, disappointed because the animal could not provide "unconditional love" -- another absurd idea -- turn their frustration to violence upon the animals.

But that story is not new. Genesis records it as a comedy skit:

So the LORD God formed out of the ground

various wild animals and various birds of the air,

and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;

whatever the man called each of them would be its name.

The man gave names to all the cattle,

all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals;

but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.

Human community is hard work. When two human beings meet in an intimate space each must discover the mysterious depths of their separate existence, and the vast space between them. And then they must try to bridge the gap with little more than words and gestures.

A wife and husband meet as two rivers from separate mountain ranges. Each brings assumptions they have never challenged, and beliefs they have never doubted. If they are blessed their disparate stories will come together, becoming a shared history. But even yet they will have different memories of the same incidents, and very different opinions about them. Periodically one or the other will look across the table and wonder, "Who is this stranger?"

If they are wise neither will expect the other to satisfy all their needs for support, understanding and companionship. They still need a matrix of family, friends, neighbors, coworkers and a community of faith. They must still work for peace with their enemies. 

We're seeing in the United States the sad wages of that choice to live solitary lives. The automobile, a mobile hermitage, doesn't reach isolated individuals in rural counties. They cannot walk to the grocery store, the doctor's office or the community center, and they're too old to drive. Some people are homeless in our cities because they never learned the give and take of family life. Even in the cities people die alone, their mortal agony unnoticed. 

"It is not good for man to be alone." Religion provides the spirit, skills and give-and-take willingness to share life with other people.  

❤ Happy Saint Valentine's Day