Alone in the Crowd
“When I left my home and my family,
I was no more than a boy, in the company of strangers,
In the quiet of the railway station, runnin’ scared, layin’ low,
Seeking out the poorer quarters where the ragged people go,
Looking for the places only they would know…”
I was reading and re reading the Gospel passage for today, concentrating on what it said
and implied about the person of Jesus, and the implication of that knowledge for us: “Who do
people say that I am?” “Who do you say that I am?” And as I continued pondering, I found that
certain musical images were running through my head, most of them, and possibly all were the
product of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, a verse of which from the song The Boxer I quoted at
the beginning of this homily. Several of you recognized the words, I’m sure, thereby betraying
both your age and the fact that you experienced the 60’s and 70’s and still remembered them
despite the adage that “If you remember the 60’s you didn’t really live them!”
“Why Simon and Garfunkel?” I asked myself, as you may be asking. Then I realized that
a great part of the work of these two very talented and creative individuals had to do with social
commentary of the times and alienation of the individual .The loneliness that is derived from that
alienation was grist for the mill of their fertile imaginations and resulted in a telling body of
work that spanned the whole of the youthful experience, especially young people trying to cope
in a turbulent decade. Some of the titles you may recognize are The Sound of Silence, Feelin’
Groovy, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Homeward Bound and many, many more that you can
think of, I’m sure. The loneliness that they talk about is not about being alone but being separate.
Many of the songs are set in large cities where the protagonist, the singer, is surrounded by
people but still feels isolated and apart. Is that a familiar feeling?
“And what does this,” you ask in infinite wisdom, “have to do with the person and nature
of Jesus as he asks the questions of his disciples?” Good question! It really had nothing to do
with what people thought of him, or even what the disciples thought about who he was, but it
does have to do with his character and what he was able to do. The text reads “when Jesus was
praying alone, with only the disciples near him.” Another text reads “as Jesus was praying alone
the disciples were with him.” Both are accurate but the second gives the sense that he was in the
midst of this group but at the same time he was able to be alone and apart, not in the sense of the
60’s alienation, but rather in a sense of withdrawing mentally in order to do a specific act, in this
case pray, and to concentrate whole heartedly on that. The text does not say that he was alone,
but that he was praying alone, silently, by himself, not including the rest. His reason for doing so
is not given, possibly there was something that he wanted to convey to his Father in heaven that
he did not want to share with his group; possibly he wanted to be given a sense of the direction
that he was to follow next; possibly he just wanted the internal sound of silence. We can
speculate all we want and never find the answer because it is not supplied to us, but what is
stated plainly is his capacity to be alone in a crowd.
As in Simon and Garfunkel’s compositions, many of us have felt also alone in a crowd,
and for several different reasons. Such conditions can be brought about by a number of
situations: for example, not being with someone special that one wants to be with at that time,
such is the very essence of bereavement and grief, whether it is caused by a death or by another
circumstance. Being depressed by what life is or is not doing to us. Being so angry about
something that the anger shuts out everything and everyone around us. Feeling like a “fish out of
water” in unfamiliar surroundings such as in a new city or in a new job. There are other
examples, but the thing that ties them together is the understanding that they are all caused by
external influences, death, separation, relocation, turmoil, and so on. What is different with the
example that Jesus gives us is that he is in a state of separation and aloneness that is of his own
volition, his own making. While in the midst of the disciples, he consciously carves out for
himself an oasis of calm, an area of peace, in which he can commune with God the Father. He is
able to shut out the turmoil, the hubbub of general chatter and conversation, and be alone in the
presence of God. We can learn by his example, that even in the pressures of everyday life in our
fast moving society, we should be able to find the means to mentally separate ourselves and,
when we need, to seek solace and support in coming, in that moment, into the presence of God. It
may take some practice, but it is well worth the effort.
“Slow down, you move too fast,
You’ve got to make the moment last…”
Once again, Simon and Garfunkel give us sage advice, to carve out the time that we need
to get strength and support and direction.
One other point, taking that cue from Jesus we realize that he was praying, that he was in
the presence of God. When we make that conscious effort, we are also in God’s presence. But
even if that is not of our own volition, that we feel alone in the crowd, we can feel assured that
there is another presence sharing that aloneness, God is there in times of bereavement,
depression, anxiety, and the myriad other reasons we may feel so alone. We are never really on
our own, God is always with us. Amen.