So we are meant to be in relationship, right? I mean, that is what Donne suggests here. All of us are interconnected, part of a larger... something. And really, who wants to be alone. Tom Hanks couldn't even be alone on a deserted island."All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
Even though I live alone, I have a large network of people I love and care about who love and care about me. Isn't that enough? I love and desire a relationship with God and he pursues me and loves me, that should be enough. But there is a longing in me that hasn't been fulfilled, yet.
It is that YET that contains the difference between my feeling of isolated, Bridget-Jonesian loneliness or my feeling of content, Gloria-Steinem singlehood. Today there is a yet. Tomorrow there may not be. Hope comes and goes and it is the hardest part of me to pin down. Just like the wind today--whipping the leaves into frenzied circles, my hope shouldn't be so flighty. I am certain of a few things, but I wish I knew with as much certainty that there is someone out there for me. But maybe if I had that same certainty, I wouldn't have faith.
