The Illusion of Loneliness [STAFFCLS]

Dr. Jeffrey Seibert and Dr. Rosemarie LoSasso

Loneliness seems an unavoidable condition of our lives as we each seem to inhabit and move about in our own private worlds (T-21.I.5:2-5). Our self-perception as separate individuals thus appears at the core of this universal condition. Yet Jesus assures us that loneliness is not the result of any isolation the body seems to impose on us, but rather the inevitable outcome of wanting and choosing to see ourselves as separate from our Source, which is Love. Thus, “a sense of loneliness and abandonment” is experienced by “all the separated ones” (W-pI.41.1). And so our misguided attempts to address our feelings of loneliness through seeking out other bodies to convince us that we are not alone (T-15.VII.8,12), such as the romanticized notion of finding our soul mate who will make us complete, are doomed to failure. The Course provides a different perspective on what causes our feelings of isolation —guilt and judgment—and what in turn heals our feelings of loneliness—forgiveness, and specifically why it calls it an “illusion of loneliness” (T-8.IV.2). In considering the Course’s alternative answer to loneliness, the class explores the Course’s challenging perspective on who in fact are our “soul mates” in the context of Kenneth’s powerful explanation of the A-B-C split. Loneliness is completely overcome, Jesus teaches, through the true communication forgiveness brings to our relationships with ourselves and our brothers.