All I Say

The Personal Blog of Lorne Pike

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Should a Christian feel lonely?

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For some Christians, feeling lonely can be confusing.It’s Valentine’s Day, and with that comes the expected flood of Facebook and Instagram photos featuring happy couples and cute poems and chocolate and flowers and chocolate and cats and chocolate and chocolate and chocolate. It is a day of happiness and being together, but for those who have not yet found love or who are healing of love lost, it can be a day of very mixed feelings.

In my chats with a range of people, I have especially found these feelings and even a sense of confusion and guilt can arise for those who are Christians.

“Yes, I’m alone, but as a Christian shouldn’t I feel comforted and happy anyway?” 

“Is my faith weak if I’m feeling sad or overwhelmed?”

“Shouldn’t I only tell others how good God is even when I’m alone, rather than admitting I’m actually really struggling?”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: God

I went to a rally for Libya today.

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LibyaProtest-3I went to a rally for Libya today. I was the awkward one.

It was all very moving. There were some wonderful people there, sharing tremendous care and compassion for people on another part of the planet. Some carried signs and two men from Libya held up a flag. We marched and chanted and, while my role was very minor and I don’t know if our actions will actually change anything, I came away thinking that this was the most important thing I’ve done in a long, long time.

I have to admit upfront that I have never really been the protester type. The closest I came to protesting something before this was at the end of grade 10, when I burnt my math book. Since the year had ended by then I’m not sure if that even qualifies as protesting, but it was my best shot as a rookie. The only other time I came close to a protest was a year or two earlier when I told my dad I was going to a math pretest and he thought I said a math protest. He wanted to know what part of math we were protesting. [Read more…]

The ungodly silence of being alone

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AloneFirst, I love silence and cherish being alone. I seek out times to reflect and figure things out. Praying and listening and putting pieces together out of apparent chaos. Playing Jenga in reverse.

But there’s a limit. What is therapeutic in healthy doses can be fatal in large, and that needs to be written on every bottle of silence and stamped on every box of alone. They’re good for what ails ya, but they’ll pummel you to your knees with frightening fury if you take too much.

Some people love being alone. They celebrate singlehood or divorce like wearing a new jacket. I can see that. There is something liberating about being able to [Read more…]

It’s my birthday

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Happy birthday!In a few hours I will turn 55. Fifty-five. Halfway to 110. Quarter way to 220. Yeah, that’ll be here before I know it.

I remember when I was a little boy, asking Mom why grown-ups never seemed to be excited about another birthday. She said that once you grow up, some people forget that getting older can be fun. She nailed that answer, just like the one she gave when I asked her how people can know when they’re in love. “When you can wash the other person’s socks and underwear and not mind,” she replied. Some 50 years later, I still marvel at the profound wisdom in that statement. And that woman.

What leaves me speechless though is the knowledge that I am older now than she was then. I have surpassed in years the parents who then seemed to me to be so wise and strong and unflinchingly dependable. They were the parents who made parenting look like a calling from God. Which is of course exactly what it is. But somehow it was easier to believe that when I watched them do it than when I try it. [Read more…]

Lying awake at 3 am

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Lying awakeI had sworn I wouldn’t be here again. Yet here I am the most wretched of men, for the fortieth night in a row lying awake at 3 AM.

I have always stayed up late at night, working or, back in my teenage days, watching Don Kershner’s Rock Concert. Those hours were always generally surprisingly creative and focused. But this year, now that I’m approaching my mid 50s, I thought it best to start caring for myself, and so I try to get to bed by midnight or 1 AM at the latest each night. Terrible decision. Now, instead of those productive hours, I wake up by 2:50 every night with a jellied mind and no hint of feeling tired. [Read more…]

Did you use all your strength?

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dadPath-450x338The story has stuck with me for days. Yet, ironically, for the life of me I cannot recall where I heard it. A father and young boy were walking along a pathway, when they came across a large tree trunk that had fallen across the way. The father encouraged the boy to go move the tree, to which the son replied he wasn’t strong enough.

“Yes you are,” said the dad. “If you use all your strength, I know you can do it.” So the boy summoned all he had and, against the mighty forces of nature, he tried. And tried. And tried again. Finally, hanging his head, he went back to admit to his father that he just couldn’t do it.

“Did you use all your strength?” The man asked. The boy nodded he had. “No, actually son, no you didn’t,” the father said. [Read more…]

Saying good bye to Dad

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My Dad and meMy Dad died this past weekend.

It was unexpected, or at least as unexpected as it could be from a man who was almost 89. I last saw him about a day and a half earlier and he was in great form, full of wit and smiles. But with one phone call from my brother at 5 AM Saturday morning, I found out that that visit with Dad had been my last. [Read more…]

Down 40 by June 1… I mean SEPTEMBER 1!

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I'm setting out to lose some weight. And this time I plan to keep it off.

I’m setting out to lose some weight.
And this time I plan to keep it off.

December 2012. I’m trying it again.

About two and a half years ago, I set out to lose 40 lbs and posted my progress on Facebook and on my Website. Largely because so many people offered support each week, I hit my target.

Unfortunately, over the next 30 months or so, I slowly put that weight back on. So at one point last year I set out to lose it again, but this time, I blew it. After a couple of good weeks, I got caught up with work and other demands in life, and eventually just let it go.

For 2013, I’m a loser again.

If you’d like to offer a comment below, that would be a tremendous help; it’s always an extra push when you know someone can see how you’re doing.

To those of you who offered such great support during my first time around, thanks. I am determined this time to make it work again. And this time, to keep it off.

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