WHERE IS EVERYBODY...THE CURE FOR LONLINESS

Hello human beings...how's it going? Are you interacting with other human beings...or do you feel like you are in isolation? D0,do,do,do...do, do, do, do...
(If you say the do, do, do, do's just right...it sounds like the theme to the T.V. show...The Twilight Zone). The theme music was by Bernard Herrman and Marius Constant...and set the mood for the mysterious.

The Twilight Zone...the brain child of Rod Serling...was a T.V. show that debut on C.B.S. in 1959. They were stories about ordinary people...who experienced extra ordinary circumstances. The stories always ended with some twist.

The camera would pan over to Mr. Serling as the stood with his hands crossed, a burning cigarette in his hands, dressed in black suit, white shirt and tie...and introduce the nights show. He would also narrate the Twilight Zone openings. Here are three of the various openings:

#1
"Your travelling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead---your next top, the Twilight Zone!"

#2
"There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call...the Twilight Zone."

#3
"You're travelling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination--next stop...the Twilight Zone."

The first episode in 1959 was...WHERE IS EVERYBODY?

"The place is here, the time is now, and the journey into the shadows that we're about to watch could be our journey." Earl Holliman played Mike Ferris...in an Air Force jumpsuit...finding himself in a town that has no people in it. He runs around trying to find anyone... with a the paranoid feeling that he is being watched. The sensation of loneliness, hopelessness, isolation escalates until he pushes a cross walk button on a street corner. It is at this moment that it is revealed to the audience...that the button is a panic button and Ferris is an astronaut-trainee strapped into an isolation booth in a simulation of a moon flight. He was in the booth for 484 hours and cracked from SHEER LONELINESS. His journey was all in his mind. (Thanks and a Tip O Da Hat to The Twilight Zone Companion).


That loneliness and sense of isolation...is not uncommon to various people. Oh it may be intensified and exaggerated for the purpose of television and ratings... but that sense of loneliness in the middle of a crowd is nothing new.

Sometimes we feel like Jimmy Stewart in the classic movie..IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. George Bailey had spent his entire life...in Bedford Falls... and sacrificed his dreams and ambitions on the altar of helping others. Every time he feels he is about to escape his destiny...somebody's problems rise up...that only he could deal with.

The straw that broke the camel's back...finally happened. and George got to the point of the sense of helplessness...and hopelessness...where he felt the only way out was suicide.

I remember back to 1970...where I reached that point in my life. At that point I became a follower of Jesus Christ. Within two years...what appeared to be a sudden turning away from my faith...was actually a gradual slide into isolation from my family, friends, church...into hopelessness.

I NEEDED HELP. Our friend in the Twilight Zone pushed a PANIC BUTTON.
George Bailey was rescued as an answer of prayers from the people he ran from...in the form of an angel with the I.Q. of a rabbit..Clarence, Angel 2nd Class with no wings. I turned back to God....back to hope...through the prayers of some saints GATHERED TOGETHER interceding for me.

There is a cure for this helpless, hopeless, sensation of loneliness. It's called KOINONIA. This word is from the Greek word KOINE' means common. There is the classical Greek language...and the KOINE' Greek language...the common language of the common people. This is what the New Testament is written in.
KOINONIA...is a sharing, a communion, having something in common between people.

As believers...we really do need each other. Yes...our individual experience with God is between us and Him...BUT...to walk out this experience...we cannot do it in ISOLATION. We must surround ourselves with other people who have made Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives...so that we can encourage, edify, lift up, when we get WEARY.

On a cold, cold night...where you cannot get warm...the cure is a THREE DOG NIGHT. No...I'm not talking about putting JOY TO THE WORLD by the singing group....but depending on how cold it is...you can put one dog on for being cold. This is called a one dog night. A little more colder...two dogs...and for the freezing cold...it is a THREE DOG NIGHT. As Three Dog Night sang...ONE is the loneliest number that you'll ever know. Even The Lone Ranger...was not ALONE. He may have been the surviving member of a group of Rangers who was attacked...but even The Lone Ranger had his faithful steed Silver...and his friend TONTO. We need Amigos...to help us out of the muck of loneliness.



We really do need each other. If that is true...why do we isolate ourselves? I know people who remove themselves from people who love them...only to listen to lies of the enemy...about what they thing people have said or done to them. A good wolf...likes nothing better for the sheep to remove themselves from the flock. It's like a sheep buffet...easy pickings. In Africa...we got to see the stalking lioness waiting for the right moment for an isolate Wildebeest to ring the dinner bell.

"Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labour. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is NOT ANOTHER TO LIFT HIM UP. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm but how can ONE BE WARM ALONE? And if ONE CAN OVERPOWER him who is ALONE...two can RESIST him. A CORD OF THREE STRANDS IS NOT QUICKLY TORN." (Ecclesiastes 3:9-12)

"Iron sharpens iron...so ONE MAN SHARPENS ANOTHER." (Proverbs 27:17)

"Again I say to you...that if two of you AGREE on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have GATHERED TOGETHER in my name, there I am in their midst." (Matthew 18:19,20)


"Let US hold fast the confession of OUR hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful, and let US consider how to stimulate ONE ANOTHER to love and good deeds, not forsaking OUR own ASSEMBLING TOGETHER, as is the habit of SOME but encouraging ONE ANOTHER, and all the more as you see the day drawing near." (Hebrews 10:23-25)

Are you one cord, one piece of iron, one sheep? Do you wonder why you feel so lonely. Even if you are in the largest megachurch or the smallest home meeting...you can be in self isolation by the choices you make. Reach for your PANIC BUTTON now...call out to your God for HELP...connect again with a brother and sister in the Lord.

"What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have KOINONIA WITH US....and indeed OUR KOINONIA is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write, so that OUR JOY MAY BE MADE COMPLETE." (I John 1:3,4)

Hey...if you're out there...give me a shout.

Love and 3 Cord Kisses
Rodney "KOINONIA" Boyd