March 27, 2021
Sharing from the Congregation – David Petty
Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. — Psalm 25:16
John Donne was an English poet and an Anglican priest in Shakespearian times (late sixteenth to early seventeenth century). When he was 51 he suffered from a severe mysterious illness, from which he eventually recovered. During the illness he wrote a series of devotions which were published shortly thereafter.
Donne’s illness was not pandemic related, but because no one knew how infectious he might be, his friends, family, and even his doctors were keeping socially distant. This prompted him to write about loneliness, a subject not unfamiliar to survivors of this past year.
Donne believed that just as nature abhors as vacuum (I’m paraphrasing all his words due to changes in the language), it considers solitude to be almost as bad. He points to the fact that everything in nature occurs in plurals — plants, animals, even (as he believed) angels. He suggests that God, even though existing in three persons, was lonely and that this was why humanity was created.
He argues that our own experience demonstrates that we, too, are not meant to be alone. He goes so far as to theorize that our interest in life on other planets (this was in 1623) is based on our need for company.
As in his case, sometimes we have no choice but to be lonely. But he places ending the loneliness, as soon as possible, high on his list of things to pray for. Perhaps our own time of distancing is coming to a close; we have reason for optimism.
Gracefully submitted,
David Petty