We have had an all to brief break in proceedings this half term. Time together is a precious gift and not one to under estimate. The gifts that a family share with one another are worth more than all the gold on earth. It is all to easy to get lost in the crazy maze of consumerism and self promotion. Often we get so lost we forget there is a path out and another life to live. That our life on it's own is not enough, we work best as a community. Sharing, caring, belonging, we gain more from this than any object we can buy and any virtual world we may occupy.
You could spend thousands of pounds on a glamorous holiday on which you travel alone. You feel you have left something behind and you have. You have left behind the hope, love, support, hugs and belonging that comes from being part of something. Families mean different things to different people. You have biological families, adopted families, friend families and Church families. Some have more than one family and some really do have none.
To be alone, to feel alone is a terrible feeling. We all have that deep horrific thought now and then. The thought that we are nobody and nothing. The feeling that if we were to shuffle off of this mortal coil right now, no one would notice or even care. It is a consuming thought, that turns you mind an ever blacker shade. When it creeps in, you begin to doubt so much. You question everything. It is very often the simplest of gestures that can pull you out, a smile, a hand held out, a cup of tea. The simple concept that someone else cares and you are not alone.
We of course never walk alone, not even those who have no mortal family. Christ walks beside us, on occaisions he even carries us. We might be to busy questioning his existence and our faith in the face of adversity, but his love is un questioning and unconditional. Though we might rip our hearts inside out at the the grief of our mind constructed isolation, he is there. He will show us he is there, we just have to listen.
