There is a certain
element of truth to the idea that there is only so much loneliness a
man can take. When placed in solitary confinement for too long, a man
can literally lose his mind. It is because the mind is a social
thing, and a society cannot function in the mind of one man. There
must be some greater form of society unknown to man. Something
invisible to the eyes of man.
Yet this is not our
topic of discussion. Rather, I would like to bring up a point.
There is only so
much loneliness a man can take because there is a such thing as a
collective soul.
That is not to say
that there is one great soul that we all take part in; no “oversoul”
such as is implied by Vedantic Hinduism, or even Ralph Waldo Emerson
(although Emerson does make some good points.) There is an individual
and individually created soul in each individual person. It is what
grants them said personhood. However, there is, to a certain extent,
a form of unity between the souls of humanity.
We, as humans, are
called to be social beings. Yet this aspect of humanity, unique to
humanity, is often misinterpreted. Being social and being extroverted
are not equivalent. Rather, being social is more similar to being
considerate.
I discovered a
better understanding of the nature of society, ironically, through
loneliness. I have often found myself missing one or many person(s)
of great importance to me. And it is in these times that I have
realized that I miss having some one to talk to, but that I miss
having some one talk to me even more. And therein lies the nature of
society.
The nature of
society is to communicate and interact and to be communicated to and
interacted with. We are all integral members of a molecular
community, each person a critical atom in a molecular chain that is
both adaptable and fragile; adaptable in that when a member is lost
or removed, the community continues to function, yet fragile in that
the community is still easily upset by said loss or removal. Due to
this, we not only have a calling to cultivate our own lives by
engaging in community, but we are called to cultivate the community
by participating in the social lives of its unique and numerous
individual persons. Consequently, the nature of loneliness is dual,
to be engaged and to engage.
There is a certain
element of truth to the idea that there is only so much loneliness a
man can take.
Yet it is also true
that man is never truly alone.
Let us thank our
Creator for our social souls and for the collective community of souls he has provided for us to care for all souls.
The Lord God said,
“It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper
suitable for him.” -Genesis 2:18
