Loneliness is the Leprosy of the West

In the West there is loneliness, which I call the leprosy of the West. In many ways it is worse than our poor in Calcutta. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty. There is a terrible hunger for love. We all experience that in our lives--the pain, the loneliness. We must have the courage to recognize it. These poor you may have right in your own family. Find them. Love them.
Mother Teresa

I remember growing up with this pervading sense of loneliness. My Dad left when I was three. My Mom was overwhelmed with her own issues. When I was 7, a stepfather entered my life, who was angry and violent. Much of his unhappiness was released upon me. I felt a deep sense of being unwanted.

By High school I became aware enough of those around me to see a terrible hunger for love among my peers. This was an epiphany of spirit for me. For the first time I began to open up to others, to the Creator, to learning to love myself. For the very first time I voiced a personal creed ~ I will reach out to the lonely all around me and the loneliness within me, and begin to love all of them.

To this day I still feel and follow my Creed. I work with High School Students every Wednesday and Sunday. It is no surprise that things haven’t changed much since I was in High School. Loneliness permeates and saturates deep into so many of their lives. They don’t need me to be hip and cool. They are surrounded by actors who portray hip and cool. They hunger for love. They crave a warm hug. They are famished to be wanted.

I give them hugs, I miss them, I laugh and cry with them, I listen to them with my heart. I love them. In that connection of kindness and giving, I find my own loneliness being healed.

It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving. Mother Teresa