loneliness

COMMENTARY – Reading the Opinion Page Essay in Sunday’s Wisconsin State Journal on the epidemic of male loneliness, I was reminded of my own journey through that dark valley several decades ago. I was fortunate that my church at the time, Madison Gospel Tabernacle, initiated male accountability groups. Pastor Roger Olsen called them Men Of Vision and Encouragement (MOVE) groups. We joked about another acronym, Men Opposed to Virtually Everything. We joked about a lot of things, we were guys after all. But our discussions were also very serious. I ended up in a fellowship that met at one guy’s…

Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. — Mark 5:5Here is a man who was in torment. He had no rest day or night. He was driven away from people and had no one to share his suffering with. He was lonely and in terrible pain.Yesterday we looked at the storm from the perspective of the disciples. God brought them through the storm so they might see a clearer picture of who Jesus is.Today I’d like to look at the storm from the perspective of this desperate, demonized…