A Tribute to Sarah Libbey Greenhalgh – Sunday Thoughts

Here are some poignant observations about life from a potential new WWTFT contributor (fingers crossed), journalist and author George Archibald.  The excerpt below was taken from an article he wrote in tribute to his friend and colleague, Sarah Greenhalgh

Mother Teresa wrote in her book, “My Life for the Poor”: “I have come to realize more and more that the greatest disease and the greatest suffering is to be unwanted, unloved, uncared for, to be shunned by everybody, to be just nobody to no one.”

There is no doubt that our fast-paced, morals-free culture produces a plethora of lonely people everywhere –– people who are treated by others as throwaways, those who live alone with no one to care for or about them, with families that are either gone, uninterested, or too busy.

For such people, most days end coming home to an empty home or apartment and spending the evening alone, except perhaps for an occasional friendly visitor or the television.

Like any disease, Mother Teresa was saying, loneliness strikes at any stage in life, afflicting the rich and poor, young and old alike, making no exceptions even for the most celebrated or gifted people on earth.

In our fast-paced society where people are striving to acquire more things, they often find themselves with fewer meaningful relationships.

A recent survey at the University of Chicago revealed that the average urban dweller reaching adulthood can expect to spend 18.5 years of his or her life living in marriage with a spouse, 4.3 years living with someone to whom they are not married, and the rest of their lifetime living alone.

Reasons given include higher divorce rates and growing reluctance of young adults to make a commitment to marriage. Researchers concluded that cohabitation —living together — resulted in more jealousy and physical violence than found among married couples.

Mother Teresa’s testimony in her own lifetime was that our creator understands and offers assistance. She recalled that Jesus Christ spent much of his time with his disciples who rarely communicated on his level. When he became a man, he shared the full range of our feelings and emotions.

While holy scripture teaches that loneliness is not sin, we are told that it is part of our frailty as humans and can lead to bad behavior called sin if we let it get the better of us.

Christ himself taught, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28.) We know from scripture that we need to build and develop good and lasting family relationships.

The entire article …