Being committed to you and your ways brings its own kind of loneliness in this world ,my Lord. I feel like an alien, a stranger, so much of the time. Because your Holy Spirit lives in me, the things I am drawn to are not of this world anymore. I often have to part company with others because my loves and loyalties are toward you. The solitude of serving you, the loneliness of obedience ,the quietness of listening and waiting: These are a part of belonging to you. Teach me to embrace them and be taught by them according to your purposes for me.