I've been struggling with a concept all day.  Basing this off of the obvious riddle, "If a tree falls in a forest...", I've managed to come to the conclusion that there's actually a lot more to that saying than what's on the surface.  I'm sure most of you already knew this by now, but I, for one, have never actually looked beyond the straightforwardness of the eyebrow raising phrase...until now.

The main topic of discussion is going to be thus:  loneliness.

Now let's get one thing straight.  Loneliness does not necessarily mean unhappiness.  Plenty of people can be happy but still be lonely.  I'm one of them.  Unfortunately, I'm also one that believes I'll never be truly happy until I've found my other half, so I suppose you could say there are certain degrees of happiness to be found.  However, we're not here to talk about said happiness, or non-happiness. We're here to learn that loneliness is not something to be feared, hidden, or perceived as anything but normal. Because even God can't save you from it.

I started to contemplate this phrase when I tried to figure out why it is I can't seem to want to get out of bed and do something during the day.  It's something I've been struggling with on a daily basis.  Though I've moved to a new place, Austin, and there's plenty to do, I just can't seem to want to actually do any of it.  Money isn't the issue, as I could find plenty of cheap, or even free, things if I wanted.  The weather isn't the issue; winter is my time of the year...I was born on Christmas for Christ's sake.  So I immediately knew it had something to do with a girl, or the lack thereof.  Now don't get me wrong, it didn't take me long to figure this out.  Ever since I can remember ever being interested in girls I've always had them around.  As I got older and learned more about relationships, as many know, I've come to value them a great deal.  Having someone to share life, to experience new things with, was not a new concept for me.  Yet what I couldn't figure out was why I, my whole sense of being, NEEDED that sort of companionship in order to do something from day-to-day.  It just didn't make sense to me.  I should be fine.  I'm just being melodramatic.  That's all there is to it.
But I wasn't.  It still bothered me.

Then it hit me:

"If a tree falls in the forest, but no one is around to hear it, then does it make a sound?"

 I suppose you can blame what comes next on the Uprising Youth Pastor, Danny, who challenged everyone to set aside 30 minutes of a day, figure out what you're struggling with, pray to got about it, and then to sit and listen.  Despite how much I doubted I could keep my mind still long enough to even hear anything from God - which I'm still not capable of doing - I believe the fact that I even tried was enough for God to give me some sort of answer.

Let me put it a different way for you:

"If a man lives but no one is around to witness it, then does he really exist?"

Ok...that might be a little extreme.  Let's try something more basic, something that applies, and an example I used earlier today:

"If a boy loves but no one is around to receive it, then does he touch anyone's heart?"

Now do you see the significance?  I could break it down for you and essentially say how you have the object, action, and subject, and why you need all three in order to get the effect, but I'm not going to do that here.  Instead I'm just going to tell you that it MATTERS to have that person around in order to truly live.  In order to truly BE who you are, you need to have other people around you to witness it.  Still don't believe me?  One more try:

"If Mattias is Mattias, but no one is around to know him, then who's to say that he's not just some other guy?"

When it comes to experiencing life, having someone there to share it with is very important, and when I say someone I'm not just talking about anyone.  I mean someone SPECIAL.  While most of you may not agree with me I want you to imagine something.  Picture your highest of highs or your lowest of lows.

Now pretend you had no one there to experience it with you, and afterwards you had no one to talk to about it and express how you feel.

I'm the kind of guy that WANTS to have that person there.  Not just anybody, but that person that I HOPE is going to remain beside me for the rest of my life.  It's not that anyone really NEEDS those other people to be happy, or even to feel tremendous sadness, but all I'm saying is that it makes life that much more MEANINGFUL when you have that certain somebody there to share it with.  I could experience all I want on my own, and I could do good by myself if I wanted to, but without those friends, or even those companions, there to share it with, then what exactly is the point?

I want to put an end to the myth that christians like to tell.

That when a christian has God, he/she can never, or should never, truly feel lonely; because God is always there.

I'm going to tell you now that if there was one problem God could never solve by himself, then it would be LONELINESS.

Look at Adam, who God saw was lonely, and therefore he gave Eve as a companion to walk with him.  Share life and experiences with.  To know one another and to love one another.  Now I want you to compare Adam to ourselves as christians.  We know that God is there.  Though we cannot see him, and oftentimes we cannot here him, we know that God is this omnipresent being that is greater than time and space itself, and that when we believe in him he will never, EVER leave us, and he is always with us.  So we as christians, it is assumed, should never feel lonely as long as we have God.

But then there's Adam.  God WALKED with Adam.  Adam WALKED with God.  Whereas we can only, at best, feel a certain presence during Sunday morning worship and assume it is God.  Adam could have pointed God out, and should he have felt the urge, walked up to God and gave him a slap to the face!!  Something we can only DREAM of doing.

Yet God SAW...
that ADAM....
was LONELY.

So in order to solve this problem, God created another human.
Look closer.  God is not Human.  So he creates another human.
Not just any human.
A Woman.

And God did not go up to Adam afterwards and say, "Remember dude, bro's before ho's."

So the next time some christian comes up to you and says, "Be happy man, at least you've got God!"  Gently pinch them on the back of the arm and politely tell them they are "WRONG!"

Loneliness was never something God meant for us to hide, he wants us to express it, and I'm not talking about wallowing in self-pity here, to him and to others when we're feeling alone; because how could anyone ever be there for you if you keep it to yourself.  God may be there for you, but God isn't human, and he realized that, so he created Humans to be there for other Humans.  When he SEES that you are lonely, when you stop pretending that you don't need anyone in order to justify your existence...

"What's that nice word for being selfish again?"
"Independent."

Then he'll send you the person you may have been looking for all along.  I'm not afraid to say that I feel heavily unmotivated when I don't have that person in my life.  Even if it's just good friends that will always be there, or if it's that girl that I happen to be interested in at the moment.  I need them around or otherwise everything just feels meaningless.  I like having someone to tell my story to.  I like experiencing new things with people I feel a special connection with.  I like to vent when I'm frustrated, and I like to show when I'm excited.  It's contagious, but if I have no one to pass it on to then it just fades into nothing.

After all...what's life it there's no one to share it with? 

If you smile, but no one is around to smile back, then do you really create a ripple?
If you give, but no one is there to cherish it, then do you really make the world a better place?
If you try, but no one is there to push you, then do you really put forth any effort?
If you say you're sorry, but no one is there to take your hand, then do you really seek forgiveness?
If you fall, but no one is there to catch you...to pick you back up...to need you to be there for them...then would you really care to get back on your feet?