Alone in the Crowd

Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.

Psalm 25:16

Recently at church, I had a very surreal experience.

I arrived, sang my way through the worship songs and all was as it should be.

It wasn’t until I sat to listen to the announcements that I noticed something very odd. None of my ‘church’ friends were there. One had family visiting, one was ill and one was working. Even my husband was out of town for the weekend.

A faint gnawing began in my stomach. It was a very uncomfortable feeling. The service progressed. Communion came and went. The offering bags passed by. The Pastor rose to speak.

It was only then I realised what was making a meal of my innards.

I felt alone. I was in a small crowd of about 50 people…and I felt alone.

Now our church is a very welcoming one. It is nearly habit for congregation members to greet new people and to make them feel welcome.

This day…I had a new thought.

I am a familiar face to my church, a regular attendee. And I felt alone. I wondered how often this happened. How many times I saw someone who regularly attended and gave them no more notice than a smile or a wave. How many times that familiar church member sat quietly yearning for some attention? Perhaps their friends were away, perhaps their husband was out of town.

All this time, I had done nothing but smile and wave. After all, I was confident that I had done my duty to make the newbie welcome, so now I could go and talk to my friends.

While alone in the pew sat a sad and lonely regular, silently longing, hoping someone would come and talk to them.

It is not only the new who feel lost and alone at church.

My resolution following this surreal experience is a simple one.

I will make a concerted effort to notice if that regular is still sitting in the pew at service end…and go talk to them. To seek out that regular who is standing with a coffee in one hand and a smile firmly in place…with no one else around.

My hope…is that you will too.

T P Hogan