togetherness and loneliness

In the past half hour, the wind has raged, it has rained, then snowed, and now the sun is out and the sky is blue - as if the clouds were pulled back like curtains and are now nowhere to be seen.

Have felt somewhat low this morning, being unable to participate in any of the Good Friday services etc. When you are gathered together with one focus, it is harder to be distracted by yourself. I strongly believe in the importance of the gathered church - I deliberately say 'gathered' since church is not the meeting, nor the place of meeting, nor the day and time of meeting. Sitting here alone, I am part of Christ's church; I do not need to 'go' anywhere to become this. However meeting together is terribly important - and bear in mind this could mean with one or two others, or one or two hundred others - and there we are, whatever our number, the gathered church.

Thinking on this, and also on my current lowness of mood and sense of isolation, I'm reminded of those who are housebound, widowed, made immobile by circumstance or age. Loneliness is their most constant companion, and they are the most forgotten of all. My situation is nothing compared to that; indeed I'm reminded to be grateful for the support and friendship I receive, and the times where I can be involved - I'm also reminded of the importance of not forgetting these others. Their situation hovers at the periphery of my world - but to them it is the world, with no respite accept at the whim of others.

So I withdraw my complaint, and instead whisper a prayer for those completely shrouded in loneliness today.

As I do so, God draws near.

~*~

Currently feeling: Contemplative
Currently playing: U2, Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
Currently (re) reading: Jasper Fforde, Something Rotten (having just finished the Well of Lost Plots!)