PATCHING CRACKS

Mark Twin once said that “The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself.” In my 20 years of working with people as a chaplain and later as a pastor, I have witnessed this phenomenon in so many forms. Most often, I see it in people who can’t be alone with their own thoughts, so they drown out their inner monologue with noise, activity, or chemicals to keep them distracted. I see it in people who say things to and about themselves that they would never say to anyone else in the world. In fact, if they heard someone else treated the way they treat themselves, it would make them unco...