This Lonesome Place

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. 

Lonely. Lonesome. Alone. Isolated.

These seem like synonyms, but there are subtle differences in the meanings. I can be be alone, but not feel lonely or lonesome, or even isolated. I can feel lonely or lonesome even when I'm not alone. These past couple of months, I've been reminded about what all of these feel like. And although most of us long for 'alone time' to a certain extent, I don't think anyone really wants to feel that they are truly alone. 

Awhile ago, my husband watched a survival reality type show called "Alone", and I watched a lot of it with him (so he wasn't alone watching alone! Ha!). The contestants were dropped off in an isolated wilderness area with a limited amount of supplies and documented their experiences on camera. They had to construct their own shelter, find their own food and water, and maintain their own health and sanity without any contact with the rest of the world. The only contact was when they decided to 'tap out' and then the team would come get them. The winner was the one who outlasted all the others. 

It was fascinating to watch the creative solutions these contestants came up with to build shelters, hunt and gather and trap in order to feed themselves, keep warm and dry, and cope with the inevitable dangers and difficulties. Since they had to film their experience, they talked to the camera. Not surprisingly, no matter what else they faced, the hardest thing for each one to deal with was that they were completely alone and isolated. There was no one to help them with a tangled fishing net; no one to tag team with when hunting; no one to consult with over a dilemma that could be life and death; no one to assist when they got sick or injured. Every one of these contestants was alone and isolated. They were obviously lonely. Often those who tapped out very early did so because they missed their families and weren't prepared for the loneliness. Oddly, what seemed to most haunt those who stuck it out the longest and what also kept them going for one more day was that they were lonesome.

One dictionary source I consulted said while a lonely person desires companionship, a lonesome person is lonely but in a more profound and philosophical way. Or, one source suggested, in the context of American country music, the lonely person is alone and doesn't have a sweetheart. The lonesome person is alone, but there is someone specific that they long for; and that loved one's memory helps the person make it through that time of being alone.

In the context of the show, that makes sense. All the contestants were alone and missed being with people. They felt their isolation and loneliness keenly. For some, it was obvious that they were also lonesome, usually for a spouse and kids. They talked to themselves and to the camera, and talked a lot about that loved one and how much they were missed. How good it would be when they were finally together again. How they hoped that loved one would be proud of them. How they were confident the loved one was thinking of them, and missing them, and maybe even praying for them. I think they drew strength to endure those long lonesome days because they knew there was someone out there who loved them and was waiting.

It's a lonesome walk to the sidelines, especially when thousands of people are cheering your replacement. ~Fran Tarkenton

The world seems a lonesome place when mother has passed away and only memories of her are left. ~Laura Ingalls Wilder

I wonder if Jesus also felt a bit lonesome when he withdrew to lonely places to pray, as the gospels say he often did. I wonder if part of the agony at Gethsemane was the lonesome feeling of Heavenly Father and Son of God needing to be 'separated' at the cross. Is God lonesome for us, longing to be relationship with us? Is the eternity God has placed in our hearts what makes us lonesome for him and for heaven?

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

~Luke 5:16~

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

~Ecclesiastes 3:11~

Perhaps those questions are just me being fanciful, but I do know that Jesus understands that this world is a lonesome place and we get lonely, and that we need fellowship. God created us to be in relationship with him, and with each other and he was the first to say it wasn't good for us to be alone without a helper or companion. And so, when we are lonely and alone, God knows what we need and he provides. When we are lonesome, he knows what we long for and he comforts and strengthens us.

Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,

extol him who rides on the clouds;

rejoice before him - his name is the LORD.

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,

is God in his holy dwelling.

God sets the lonely in families,

he leads out the prisoners with singing.

~Psalm 68:4-6~

 

This post is part of the Write 28 Days Blogging Challenge hosted by Anita Ojeda. Find all my posts for the 2023 challenge here: Write Something Somewhere

 Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email. 

 ©2006-2023 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.