I Am Not Alone
John 16:32
"Only the evildoer is alone," wrote Diderot. Why then did your Master know such bitter solitude? For that was his life: desertion ever more complete. Moreover he prophesied it: "Ye shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone." A certain amiability may attract men, but holiness embarrasses and irritates them.
When Jesus said, " I am not alone," it was not of human company that he spoke, but of Him who manifests himself in solitude, in the absence of earthly associates. In the desert: "the Father is with me."
This companion of solitary individuals is unknown to the man who lives in crowds. The noisy group around him, chattering and seeking amusement, may delude him. But when he wakes up he is desperately alone; alone before life, before death, before himself, alone before the void.
To escape this terrible awakening and this supreme solitude seek isolation from material goods, reserve for yourself hours far from the clamor, and flee the company of the superficially minded. There will your Master teach you to listen to the voice from the deeps. He who sees in secret will read in you confidences which no human eye had been able to guess. He who speaks in silence will abide with you when all others have left.
Your Master has promised: " I will not leave you orphans." He wants to send to you the Spirit that dwelt in His solitude, that it may also inhabit your own.