ManageYourEmotionsBook8.5x5.5_RevJULY.indd

opinion; and thus, alienated from those around them. Cain comes to mind as such a person. Having no regard for anyone but himself, Cain murdered his brother, later answering God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9).Although his life was spared, he went out from the presence of the Lord as a wandering vagrant east of Eden in the land of Nod. “No life is so empty as one self-centered and no life is so centered as one self-emptied” said Adrian Rogers. Early 20 th century preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick quipped, “A person wrapped up in himself make a small package.” Depersonalization of society- The depersonalization that defines our high tech/low touch society, heightened by an ever-ex- panding technological boom, fuels the fires of loneliness.While a monumental amount of communication exchange and information distribution is taking place, it’s primarily electronic and impersonal in nature, void of voice and eye contact. After living 17 years on three acres in a no-growth region in Northwest Georgia, we recently moved into a sprawling new subdi- vision in west metro Atlanta. I was excited at first, thinking I would quickly get to know my neighbors and make lots of new friends. Needless to say, it hasn’t turned out that way. I look at many of the houses on our block and wonder if anybody actually lives in them. Having thoroughly examined what causes loneliness, let’s reverse that, exploring what loneliness causes, looking first at distorted thinking. As assumption chips away at actuality, a person will start thinking they don’t matter and no one cares –it’s them against the world. Elijah, whom we’ll discuss at length in a later chapter, is a prime example. Sinking into depression after a major victory over the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel, he whined before God, “I have been very zealous for the Lord…And I alone am left” (1 Kings 19:10) –when in fact 7,000 other Israelites remained faithful along with Elijah (1 Kings 19:18).

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