February Weather Report

The Weather Report 2/2021

            A revered pastoral counselor in New Orleans, Myron Madden, was a lifeline to individuals and families in crisis. A recurring theme among many he helped was some form of isolation. The pain of being removed from others or living unnoticed by others has a crippling effect. He referred to some as living on “Bayou Self.” A French word for “slow moving river,” the geography of Louisiana is marked by bayous, earning it the nickname “Bayou State.”

            Made in the image of God, we humans are hard-wired to connect with others. We learn to live by living with others, from observing others. Pandemic living has underscored our innate hunger to connect, to embrace, and to commune with others. Again, we have been reminded that intimate relationships are a sine qua non for human flourishing.

            The yearning for compassionate connections has grown stronger all the while practicing the social distance public health requires of us while living in a plague. Most describe experiencing some form of loneliness and isolation. The late Will Campbell made a distinction between lonesome and lonely. “Being lonesome is when somebody isn’t there and you know they’ll be back after a while. Being lonely is when you don’t have anybody to be lonesome for” (Brother to a Dragonfly, 207). Thoughts of reconnecting with people when on the other side of herd immunity buoy us. Yet, some experience a more menacing side of being lonely; they grieve those who will not return.

            What we call loneliness in the sphere of social relations, is called isolation in the political sphere (Hannah Arendt in Totalitarianism, 474). The insurrection on January 6 at our Nation’s Capitol left many questioning if the center of our democracy would hold. By “center” I mean the political sphere where we act together in pursuit of a common concern. The attack on the common good, threatening its very existence, caused the foundations to shake.

            The late sixteenth century poet John Donne put it succinctly when he said, “No man is an island, entire of itself.” Men and women fare badly when isolated from others. To remain unnoticed in life is to suffer. Human flourishing necessitates compassionate connections with other human beings. Yet, there is a way forward. Isolation only exists in isolation; once shared, it evaporates, to borrow the words of Irvin Yalom.

            Events since December 21 have left me wondering if two winters will come in one year. Perhaps you agree. I find coping to entail some form of sharing the isolation and loneliness with others. A phone call. A zoom meeting. A conversation through the storm door window. Relief is possible when I breakout of whatever seeks to circumscribe my life. We may be lonely, but we are not empty. Paul explained, “Because God’s love has been poured into our hearts” (Rom 5:5).

~ Pastor Steven