Known By Dick And Ruth FothSample

The Great Alone

The Genesis creation account is punctuated six times with the phrase “it was good.” The last verse of chapter 1 even says, “And God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.”

But eighteen verses later in chapter 2, we read: “It is not good for the man to be alone” (2:18, NIV). Adam has been created from the dust of the earth and the breath of life (see 2:7). He looks good and whole. But Yahweh says, in effect, “We’re not done yet.” So Eve is created. Together, Adam and Eve reflect who God is.

Here’s the deal: it is clear that relationship existed before Adam and Eve. God was always about relationship. When He says “Let us make man in our image,” He is talking about relationship, which is in the very DNA of the Creator. So when we hear “It is not good for the man to be alone,” our gut says “Aha! That’s true!”

But why tell us what we are not created for? Because it’s simply impossible to misunderstand those words: “It is not good for man to be alone.” From childhood to old age, we all know what alone feels like.

To be clear, alone is not the same as solitude. Alone just happens. Solitude is a choice. Theologian Paul Tillich articulated the distinction beautifully when he said, “Language…has created the word ‘loneliness’ to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word ‘solitude’ to express the glory of being alone.” One is toxic. The other is life giving.

The alone we speak of here is the toxic kind. Almost anything can trigger it. Aloneness unchecked turns us in on ourselves and destroys perspective. The gathered pain is an inch-by-inch slide off an emotional cliff. It is isolating. Left unresolved, it is a cancer.

Who chooses to be alone and disoriented in the dark? No one. Who wants to experience moments of unbridled joy or great hardship by themselves? No one. Human contact is life itself.

When fractured relationships are the expected and alone becomes the order of the day, the distance and separation we feel is Eden all over again. As Adam and Eve walked out of the garden, the Great Alone was waiting.

But that’s not how it needs to stay.

How do you experience the difference between being alone and being in solitude?