Facing Loneliness: The Starting Point of a New Journey Paperback – January 1, 1990

Helpful advice

J. Oswald Sanders was a faithful minister of Jesus Christ and a superb communicator. Any and all of his writings are worth the readers time and effort to read and study the material.I bought six of the "Facing Loneliness" books to give to people who are going through specific trials of faith at the moment. Loss of a husband or child. Struggling with loss of a job or set back in life.I have used the materials in counseling on many occasions. I fully recommend the book for anyone interested in better learning revealed truth..

Mr. Sanders knows the difference and also knows how to help us to know the difference as well. He accomplishes this in a beautiful and meaning full way that brings peace and understanding to the reader.

Although I haven't really gotten very far into the book, it seems to give some good suggestions to the problem of loneliness faced by my son and my mother. Thank you.

Very good stuff to think about!

everything was delivered as stated

As a Christian and single person I take issue with chapter 6, Single But Not Lonely. I read this chapter, which caught my eye, while going through my late mother's collection of motivational books, deciding which ones I will take to Goodwill. This will be one of them. As usual when Christian writers, usually married, address this area they come from the premise that single people need to be convinced that they are not second class. And, of course they should go into Christian work. I've gathered the assumption is that if you are in Christian service you will not think as much about sex. No exception here. Next is the worn out tendency of Christian writers, to quote the Apostle Paul, out of context, on this issue, usually 1 Corinthians 7:1, 8, 25-26. Paul felt this way (discouraged marriage) because he was expecting the immediate coming of the Kingdom of God while he and his followers were still alive. He also noted to his followers it is better to marry than to be "aflame with passion". Paul's logic here over two thousand years ago has little to do with our contemporary world. Another aspect about Paul. In Paul's earlier life, as most of us know, he was a member of the Roman Sanhedrin the ruling body in Israel at that time. This membership required being married, so according to scholarship Paul had previously been married and by the time of his ministry was divorced. Keep in mind that many of these Christian motivational writers are not scholars and write in an overly simplified manner, so one needs to follow up with his or her own research. Better still take a college level course in areas such as History of Christianity, New Testament, Old Testament, History of Religion, etc.

Loneliness is as prevalent among the rich as among the poor It has been described as a debilitating deficiency disease that knows no limitations of age, class, or sex. Mass production lines have reduced many skillful workers to the status of human robots. It is no sin to be lonely brought on by deep emotional trauma. Whatever the cause, the experience is painful in the extreme. The stark high-rise apartment complexes are characterized more by fear and suspicion than by friendship and neighborliness. Instead of enjoying genial and congenial action and interaction with family and friends, many live in a world of fantasy and danger.Einstein demonstrated that loneliness invades the lives of the great and intellectual as well as those in lower stations of life. Because we humans are social creatures by nature, the absence of a friend or companion creates an emotional vacuum which works havoc on both body and spirit. In today's lifestyle, fear and worry (concern for your very life) are predominate, but loneliness casts the longest shadow.The lyrics of pop songs are composed of melancholy themes of frustration, emptiness and loneliness. Country and western promote infedility, the pain of broken relationships and desertion. Solitude means not being in the company of others by choice, and can be deliberatly chosen and is voluntary. There are times when the hard-pressed heart craves solitude more than anything else.Loneliness is the result of the absence of personal intimacy or meaningful activity. Mark is the perfect example. It is a state of mind, the feeling no one really cares what happens to you. If the lonely condition is unduly prolonged or excessive, it can produce a significant change in personality. Loneliness begets the frame of mind in which the darker side of life takes over. The optimist sees the bottle half-full, whereas the opposite may appear to the depressed person.Loneliness is an inevitable accessory of failure because it is essentially personal. Often ignored or neglected by doctors, this dreadful condition confronts most of us during our lifetime. It won't just one day go away. The lonely person's lack of intimacy is at the heart of the issue. It must be accepted that some degree of loneliness is a natural component of ordinary living. No one escapes its inroads altogether. We are private beings who do not always admit even to oour dearest friends into all areas of our private lives.It is only common wisdom to accept what can't be changed and endeavor to change what can be changed. Where living conditions are favorable, many lonely people have found great comfort in keeping a pet, having something (or somebody) to love and receiving some measure of affection in return. The obvious welcome of a pet on one's return to an empty apartment helps to banish loneliness to a degree. Pray.