Loneliness and Faith

Abstract

Loneliness is fundamentally an experience of isolation. It results from the apprehension that the individual is no longer able to communicate intelligibly with his surrounding world. He feels cut off, alienated from the people and events that inhabit his existence. In a religious context, he feels abandoned by God, no longer able to affirm once cherished beliefs. In the following article we will examine this experience at some length, analyzing first its general characteristics and then applying this analysis to the specific question of faith in God. We will conclude by suggesting that the antipode to the experience of loneliness is the experience of acceptance and that it is toward encouraging this latter experience that the healer of loneliness must apply his wit and understanding.