ODJ: a terrible kind of lonely

April 27, 2015 

READ: Isaiah 44:21-28 

I, the LORD, made you, and I will not forget you (v.21).

The Great Andamanese is one of the most ancient people groups, a collection of 10 tribes tracing their lineage directly back to the first people who migrated out of Africa. These tribes have slowly dwindled over the past few centuries. One of the tribes had only one survivor remaining, Boa Sr.—a woman with no children and failing eyesight. After Boa’s husband died, she was no longer able to speak to anyone in her native language (Bo).

Anvita Abbi, a linguist professor, communicated with Boa through a local Hindi dialect and an amalgamated version of all the tribal languages. Though Boa was proud to be the surviving remnant of her tribe, she felt alone and longed for her traditional life, her ways, her people. Professor Abbi remembers how “[Boa] always said she wanted to go back to the place where she was born.” Sadly, in February of 2010, Boa died, and the Bo language (along with an entire people) vanished.

In her last years, Boa’s sadness and isolation must have been an awful burden, a terrible kind of loneliness. For many, the experience of being alone—having no one who truly knows and understands them—yields deep sorrow. The death of a parent. The end of a marriage. The dissolution of a friendship. There are so many ways to feel alone.

—Winn Collier

365-day-plan: 2 Kings 22:1–23:3

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Read Hebrews 13:5. What do these words speak into your heart? What’s the connection between God’s presence and real satisfaction? 
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Name the places and the moments where you’ve felt (or currently feel) most alone. How does it make you feel to know that you’ll never be truly alone because of God’s presence?