“O heavenly King, Comforter and Spirit of truth, present everywhere and filling all
things…” (Prayer to the Holy Spirit)
Despite your sense of alienation, you are never alone. I find myself giving this advice over and over again, but especially within the confines of the holy confessional. Loneliness is a formidable weapon in the arsenal of Satan, and alienation follows soon after, paving way for depression and despair. We call the Holy Spirit “Comforter” precisely because He abides in us to offer healing, consolation and the awareness of our own divine image. He consoles by persuasion; however, to the forlorn and friendless, it takes more than persuasion.
I may ask them to read the warm and comforting words of Psalms:
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there, if I make my bed in hell, behold You are there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me” (139:7-10).
What one ought to do even in our busy life styles is to practice God consciousness. It means that we hold the Lord in our minds and hearts regardless of where we are or what we are doing. The church fathers advise us to pray with just a phrase of few words. They call it tossing darts at heaven. “Lord, be with me.” “Jesus, have mercy on me.” “Holy saint [N], pray for me.” He who said, “Even the hairs on your head are all numbered,” (Matthew 10:30) is listening to your every utterance and feels every sigh.
When a person loses touch with the Holy Spirit within the soul, he or she lays himself open to the alienation that brings on helplessness and hopelessness. One can see it among the aged. Children wonder how it can be that the mother they remember as being capable of dealing with all adverse situations suddenly appears incapable of doing anything for herself. She phones constantly with odd requests. She doesn’t have something in the house and wants you to get it for her. She feels ill, but physicians find nothing wrong with her health. Her home is oppressive. Then you no sooner take her out for an event and she pleads to be driven back to her home. Her problem is loss of self-confidence and self-reliance. It’s a plea of the heart that feels the desperation of alienation.
It’s not just the aged. Children feel that way at several stages of growth: The rowdies on the school bus. The only kid picked on in class. The newcomer in the neighborhood and school shunned by the in-crowd. The one cut from the squad or team. The non-jock. The one who doesn’t smoke, swear and who remains pure in body. The graduate without plans for the future.
We find it even among the spiritual giants. The prophet Elijah, who saved Israel for the Lord God, ran to escape the wrath of Queen Jezebel, then told the Lord it’s all for nothing. He may as well take his life, because only he, Elijah, is left alone defending the interests of the Almighty (I Kings 19). Any military leader sets as a primary goal to cut off the enemy from his source of supplies. So it is in the battle for human souls between the Holy Spirit and the forces of evil.
The wonderful and frightening way of the Lord is to trust in the ingredients He instilled within us when we were created. Among them is the gift of freedom, which God never violates, even when the Holy Spirit remains dormant within our souls. The spiritual battle is ours to win or to lose. If we are to be victorious over the enemies who oppose the work of the Lord in us, then it must be a true conquest made ourselves. The saints pray for us, our guardian angels as well—but we must choose life over death and God over Satan if we will crush the forces of destruction.