We Can’t Go Alone

by Kayla Craig,
Sanctified Art

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As nights grow longer and the world seems to hush under the weight of winter, we often find ourselves cloistered and secluded as we wait for the world to thaw. But the season of Advent whispers an ancient truth: We were never meant to journey these paths alone.

In a pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps culture, choosing communal life is both radical–and deeply faithful.

Sorrow can make us shrink into ourselves, believing that solitude is safer than the vulnerability of connection.

When the weight of loneliness makes you feel forgotten and wonder if your place in this world matters, it’s easy to get sucked into a cascade of lies.

You start thinking you’re the only one carrying this weight of loneliness, the only one on the outside looking in. And it snowballs into other struggles like inadequacy, insecurity and insignificance.

Cultivating compassionate community is the antidote.

We aren’t meant to do it alone.

What would it look like to foster deep connections in this season–not just gatherings marked by exchanging pleasantries but by sharing your messy, holy, complicated life?

You can’t go alone, nor were you meant to.

In each others companionship, may we find the reflection of the One who, in becoming flesh, chose to be with us, to share in our humanity, and to show us that we need each other.

Beloved, you are not alone on this winding journey. May the companionship of fellow sojourners reflect the love of the One who–in becoming flesh– chose to journey alongside us. May the quilt of life warm you from the chill of isolation, and may the Spirit move you to compassion as you cultivate community, even in times of uncertainty. Amen.