When You’re Alone

How does it feel to be hopelessly lost at sea or in the desert or in the mountains, without provisions and facing the mounting terror of an early death? The survivor of such an ordeal almost certainly will recall that in the midst of the struggle to survive, in the midst of the agony of hunger and thirst, in the midst of the pain of loneliness, there is an intense desire to re-examine the meaning of life. One author who researched this phenomenon has written that “Persons lost in the mountains, in the desert, at sea, persons faced with slow, painful death, persons craving food and water consider the past and then begin to search for deeper meanings in life. They review their relationships. They hear again the words of love and hate they have spoken, the individuals they have violated with criticism and recriminations. They relive the scenes of meanness, pettiness and dishonesty. They feel again the attachments they have known, the tender and…