...like an annoying song

I recently had to return several library books that my family had checked out. As I was placing each one in the return bin, two words from the title of one of the books stood out to me – it read “Going Solo…”

I did not think much of it at the time, but the title stuck with me. I thought about it later that afternoon. I thought about it the next day, and the next, and the next. It was like an annoying song that gets in your head, and you keep singing over and over in your mind.

I’m not an expert in how the mind works, but while I was thinking about “Going Solo…” there were several other thoughts that “danced” around it; here they are in no particular order.

We live in a culture that admires individuality. We love (generally speaking) the “Lone Ranger”, “Superman”, “Indiana Jones”, and “Rocky”. So we admire people who beat the odds – but are they really going SOLO?

• We are NOT created to be lone rangers. If that was the case, then solitary confinement would be an enjoyable pass time rather than something they use in prisons.
• There is something very selfish about “going solo” – no one else to worry about, my rules, my time, my life. I will do what I want to do and no one can tell me otherwise.
• “Going solo” temps us to think simplistically. But we are not simple creatures. All of us at one time or another have struggled (are struggling) with questions of origin (who am I, where did I come from), meaning (why am I here, what is my purpose in this life, I want to do something meaningful), morality (what is the right thing, who can set the standard for right and wrong, what is justice), and destiny (what happens when/after I die, is there an eternity).

Think about it…