tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post1311042450781975237..comments2024-03-29T11:18:17.285+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: LonelinessBruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-25891983241795535922013-01-08T18:47:37.335+00:002013-01-08T18:47:37.335+00:00I have been thinking about loneliness quite a bit ...I have been thinking about loneliness quite a bit recently, with my wife and kids out of town visiting family. I hear a constant voice ringing out, "It is not good that the man should be alone."MCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-48221548198342843862013-01-08T17:42:05.307+00:002013-01-08T17:42:05.307+00:00The "a group of friends can be your chosen fa...The "a group of friends can be your chosen family!" idea was really big on television in the 90s and early 00s. In real life, groups like this almost never got too close in the first place, because everyone knew deep down that individuals would drop everything and leave the group if they got married and had children, got a better job offer in another city, etc...<br /><br />Anyway, regarding Oz's post, I've moved around a lot and have generally found Orthodox churches are very welcoming and church community-minded (maybe because the congregations tend to be smaller...) This Christmas, I was visiting distant relatives and wanted to go to church on Christmas Eve, but the only one nearby was Catholic. I was really shocked at the end when everyone just shuffled off avoiding eye contact with us. On Christmas Eve! Usually at even the most closed-off ethnic Orthodox churches at least one person will grab you and question you a bit...C.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-90814369251372038552013-01-08T12:00:24.793+00:002013-01-08T12:00:24.793+00:00This post is spot on. I, too, am surprised that n...This post is spot on. I, too, am surprised that no new forms of communal eating have emerged to give single folks living alone a group to dine with.<br /><br />I do spend a lot of my meals reading blogs. Which sounds terrible, but it's rather nice to have more like-minded dinner companions than I could find in the flesh in the ultra-liberal city I live in.<br />Jonathan Cnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-78691390728649130842013-01-08T10:17:06.225+00:002013-01-08T10:17:06.225+00:00@GAPO - The only churches, of which I am aware, th...@GAPO - The only churches, of which I am aware, that function properly in this regard are some large Conservative Evangelical churches, and the Mormon/ LDS church. <br /><br />A lonely person ought to make major changes to his life, as a matter of priority - change location, change job etc. <br /><br />But not of course with the *primary* purpose of overcoming loneliness. This is a side-effect which comes either from a real marriage and family, or via primary service to God (but, as I said above, nowadays restricted to a minority of churches and denominations). Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-73105782388440482732013-01-08T05:31:40.882+00:002013-01-08T05:31:40.882+00:00Every day of my life is filled with soul crushing ...Every day of my life is filled with soul crushing loneliness. Living in a society that would rather see me dead than offer me the slightest bit of help is hard. Going to church and being told that I and people like me are the source of all evil. Listening to the sermons that preach "we should help those other people over there, because we have reason to pity them" instead of offering the slightest bit of support to members of the congregation is rough. Hearing that a member of a church I used to attend committed suicide and knowing that not a single person from the church had done anything to help her in her overwhelming pain was very distressing.<br /><br />I'm tired of the isolation. I've tried and tried to do something about it and uniformly failed.The Great and Powerful Ozhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01379953300283048280noreply@blogger.com