Previously published in the print anthology The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories. Frank Oliver returns to England after years of overseas service only to realize he no longer knows anyone there. On visiting the British Museum, he encounters the “lonely god,” who seems to be experiencing the same sense of isolation he is. Will this strange deity help relieve him of his loneliness?
Dart discusses the importance of understanding and knowing God as he wishes to be known, not necessarily as man wishes to know him. God is not only kind, merciful, forgiving, and long-suffering. He is also dangerous. (Christian)
Current students of philosophy or armchair philosophers... Want the answer to the Primordial Existential Question: Why is there something rather than nothing? While history has produced no shortage of attempted answers, clearly none is the answer. Now comes the unique perspective of acosmism to provide a complete and plausible answer. After a lifetime of reflection, acosmist Sherman O'Brien offers this analysis of the issues and a thoughtful, reasoned answer to philosophy's most vexing question. The acosmic answer requires no faith whatsoever, either in supernatural or unexplained causes; in fact, it discourages it. Acosmism rejects both traditional religion and philosophically neglectful science. As a metaphysical system, it is based on an epistemological insight, with implications for immortality, determinism, ethics, and ultimate purpose. Reasoned wholly from the ground up, its conclusion is the very meaning of existence. The solution to the Omniscience Riddle becomes the key to understanding how the question is best stated and understood. This book represents one person's effort to make sense of what is true and what only seems to be so. Why is there something rather than nothing? What is your potential role in the entirety of experience? This foray into acosmism offers a path to the genuine understanding of both existence and reality. Note: the main text constitutes roughly two-thirds of the total pages, the remainder being mostly endnotes.
Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the rabbi known as “The Rav” by his followers worldwide, was a leading authority on the meaning of Jewish law and prominent force in building bridges between traditional Orthodox Judaism and the modern world. In THE LONELY MAN OF FAITH, a soaring, eloquent essay first published in Tradition magazine in 1965, Soloveitchik investigates the essential loneliness of the person of faith in our narcissistic, materially oriented, utilitarian society. In this modern classic, Soloveitchik uses the story of Adam and Eve as a springboard, interweaving insights from such important Western philosophers as Kierkegaard and Kant with innovative readings of Genesis to provide guidance for the faithful in today’s world. He explains prayer as “the harbinger of moral reformation,” and discusses with empathy and understanding the despair and exasperation of individuals who seek personal redemption through direct knowledge of a God who seems remote and unapproachable. He shows that while the faithful may become members of a religious community, their true home is “the abode of loneliness.” In a moving personal testimony, Soloveitchik demonstrates a deep-seated commitment, intellectual courage, and integrity that people of all religions will respond to.
In a writing style that captivates with its almost poetic insight and lustre, Griffin writes about life's toughest troubles and offers encouragement for fortitude, compassion, grace and peace.
Young or old, single or married, male or female—at some point in life, we're all confronted with loneliness. We try to fill the void or change our circumstances so we no longer feel the pain. But what if our pangs of loneliness are meant to point us to something greater? Looking at various aspects of loneliness, Lydia Brownback reminds us of God's power to redeem our loneliness and use it in our lives to draw us to himself. Ultimately, she helps us see that even when we feel misunderstood, forsaken, or abandoned, we're never really alone. God is always with us, and only he can meet all of our needs in Christ Jesus.
The New York Times–bestselling author finds the pulse of the aging American male in two ingeniously funny novels. “I just laughed myself sick” (Neil Simon). Two classic works of comic self-help fiction by “one of the funniest writers in America” available together for the first time in a single ebook edition (John Gregory Dunne). With its “sparkling . . . winsome and true” look at the single male in America—from his sad new apartment furnishings to his career struggles to the mystifying dating world—Bruce Jay Friedman’s The Lonely Guy’s Book of Life was as cringingly relatable to both men and women when it was first published in 1978 as is today (The New York Times Book Review). The inspiration for Steve Martin’s classic cult film comedy, The Lonely Guy, it was hailed as “the funniest book of this year, or most any other. You don’t close this book. You just start reading it again immediately. I loved every page–and laughed out loud on most of them” (Dan Jenkins, author of Semi-Tough and Dead Solid Perfect). Twenty years later, Friedman returned to the subject with The Slightly Older Guy, finding his quarry no longer alone, maybe a little less lonely, not so young anymore, faltering at fashion, pondering a new career, but just as resiliently witty. Featuring a new afterword, The Considerably Older Guy offers advice on such topics as divorce, grandchildren, exercise, diet, and insomnia. “If you believe in reading, then when a book comes along by Friedman, you have to read it. It’s as simple as that” (The Washington Post Book World).
Whether through the death of a loved one, divorce or estrangement in a marriage, or by being a single person in a world of couples and families, loneliness eventually comes to us all. Elisabeth Elliot lost her first husband to murder in the South American jungle and her second to the ravages of cancer. She has felt the deep pain of loss. In The Path of Loneliness, Elliot gives hope to the lonely through tender reflections on God's love for us and his plans to bless us. She tackles this difficult topic with grace and faith, showing readers how to make peace with loneliness and grow through it.
Loneliness has reached epidemic proportions, according to many sources. In an age of mobility and fraying civic life, we are all susceptible to its power. But what if loneliness is a necessary part of the human condition? What if it is a current that leads us deeper into belonging--to ourselves, to each other, and to God? In The Great Belonging, writer and spiritual director Charlotte Donlon reframes loneliness and offers us a language for the disquiet within. Instead of turning away from the waters of loneliness for fear they will engulf us, she invites us to wade in and see what we find there. In vulnerable, thoughtful prose, Donlon helps us understand our own occasional or frequent loneliness and offers touchpoints for understanding alienation. We can live into the persistent questions of loneliness. We can notice God's presence even when we feel alone in our doubts. Ultimately, Donlon claims, we can find connection that emerges from honesty, and she offers tools, resources, and practices for transforming loneliness into true belonging.
