Alone, alone, all, all alone

This morning's email included a Questions and Answer about prayer, which included this line:

Many progressive Christians have come to adopt centering prayer or other forms of contemplative prayer or meditation as their primary form of prayer.

Two quotes

In this second article are a couple of quotes that I contemplated this morning, the first by a theologian I studied in seminary:

"Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone, and solitude expresses the glory of being alone." ~ Paul Tillich

Tillich compares two words:  loneliness and solitude.  Ah, yes, those of us on lockdown this year can understand these words.  But which am I myself feeling?  Loneliness, like so many of my elderly neighbors?  Or solitude, which is something enjoyed by most introverts.  Because I'm gregarious, few people think of me as an introvert, but actually I am.

To determine whether you're an extrovert or an introvert, ask yourself whether you recharge when tired by enjoying a lively party with friends or spending time with a book.  The introvert chooses the book.  I enjoy my alone time, though after four and a half months of staying home, it's getting to be a bit much. Alone for extroverts who need people feels more like the quote from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner that I had to memorize when I was a youngster:

"Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide wide sea!
And never a saint took pity on
My soul in agony."

The old mariner was in agony, being "Alone, alone, all, all alone" after his shipmates died at sea.  That's rather different from being alone in my apartment, surrounded by unread books.  After looking up this quote, I bought The Rime of the Ancient Mariner for my Kindle.  Another book.

And then there's the second quote I contemplated this morning, a proverbial story told about Mother Teresa:

Reporter:  "What do you say when you pray?"
Mother Teresa:  "Nothing, I just listen."
Reporter:  "Well, then, what does God say to you when you pray?"
Mother Teresa:  "Nothing, He just listens … if you don’t understand that, I can’t explain it."

Do you meditate or spend time contemplating or meditating?  Lately, I've been contemplating what's out other people's windows around the world.

Aerial view of Brooklyn

WindowSwap

Taylor's window in Brooklyn, New York, overlooks a corner.  I watched cars, trucks, vans, a garbage truck, pickups, a bus or two, mopeds, and lots of bikers on the two-way street as they moved, stopped for the lights, and turned right onto what appears to be a one-way street.  I noticed some of the pedestrians were wearing masks, but not all.  One biker tried to cross traffic against the light and almost got hit.

I forgot to mention the window is on the second floor, giving me an unobstructed view of all this hustle and bustle.  It was fascinating.  A delivery man trucked a stack of boxes across the intersection and through the door held open by a merchant.  Mundane little details, but I enjoyed it after weeks — nay, months — of mostly staying inside my apartment and only venturing out for my mail every two or three days.  I'm getting groceries delivered, too, so the main way I'm keeping in touch is by phone, texts, email, and Facebook.