My Friends,
I write to you today to share a song that touched me this week in an impactful way. So much so, I changed the music plan so I can sing it this week at our in-person service.
Imen Star released her single “Lonely People” in March of 2022. I was lucky to come across it while digging for music. I appreciate the hunt that is music about good acts and wonderful wisdom, without directly talking about God. A song that encapsulates the good work, and when viewed through a Christian lens, we can see God in that song.
Lonely People does this in a mesmerizing way. Through Star’s rose gold tone and legato phrases, she captures both the cold of loneliness while searching for the warmth of hope.
“If all the lonely people spoke
To all the other lonely folk
There’d be no lonely people.
If only we could shine like stars
to find each other in the dark
There’d be no lonely people.”
So, how does one start to fix it?
I’ve been reflecting lately on my own social anxiety. I hold this next to my own personal work in beginning to understand what is important to me as a person in this world. I know that connecting with others, learning their stories, and understanding their perspective is a huge part of what enriches my life. However, I tend to allow societal pressures and fear of rejection to keep me away from others, always holding others at an arm’s length. I admire people who are wonderfully outgoing, and remember often people who have said hello to me first, and how impactful that has been.
As I’m growing, I am seeing, though, that that outgoing baton must pass on to others: that there must be people willing to stretch out their hand first. To be brave enough to start the conversation and say hi and have enough skill to run a conversation for a little while. And that baton is stretched out in front of me, ready to be taken.
So, how does one reach out? How do you cultivate that bravery and skill? Well, as my dear wife Kelly would say, I’m starting with just doing it scared. Doing it anyway. Loving myself and someone else enough to take myself out of the center of my life to give someone else the experience of being the center of my attention. And that’s one of many ways of taking the baton.
Take care this week. Sending you love.
Chelsie