Cornerstone Magazine Fall 2015 | Page 25

much time on this earth, so our best use of it would be to live in undivided devotion to God. But even Paul understands that to many, singleness in itself can be a distraction. He sincerely wishes that were not the case, but if it is, he urges us to go for it, forming Christ-centered relationships and working together to carry out God’s will (1 Cor 7:7,36). To any believers reading this, we need to remember to use our time alone as a time of service to God, granting him our undivided attention. To those who do not identify as Christians, I say the same: all of our time belongs to God. Of course, it’s not easy to spend every waking moment questioning whether or not each and every one of our actions are in line with His will for our lives, but that’s beside the point. Like Adam in the garden, we are created to be in God’s presence. Throughout the Bible, we see that we messed up, creating all sorts of barriers between God and us. But ultimately, when Jesus died on that cross as a perfect sacrifice and the temple’s veil was immediately torn in two, God reestablished that intimate connection, allowing His plan for us to reside in His presence to prevail. We belong to God, and He to us. In our singleness (and in our relationships no less), I believe we are called to serve Him. Know that the point of this piece is not to detract from the value that lies in relationships. For many of us, our lives are designed to accommodate relationships. Whatever stage you are in in your life is immensely valuable and it is necessary to treat it as such. While singleness holds immeasurable value, even God acknowledges our need and/or desire for a suitable partner not long after He instructs Adam to get to work (Gen 2:18). But remember that even in a relationship, your intention with your partner should be to glorify God. We need to remember to use our time alone as a time of service to God. To all my single readers: it’s time to stop sitting around in wait. Our time alone is too precious and I am confident that God did not intend for us to view our solitude as a purposeless period of transition from one point in our lives to another. Singleness whether you identify as “perpetually single” or whether you’ve been single for no more than a few days - is truly sacred, and both Genesis and 1 Corinthians give me reason to believe that God left Adam alone for some time in means of adequately illustrating the vitality of using that time to produce fruit (literally, in Adam’s case). So, no more talk about waiting for “the one”, because that time will come when it comes. But in the meantime, reinvent your period of solitude. Acknowledge the value it holds, and treat it as the gem that it is. Because only a period of solitude allows a caterpillar to grow its wings. Gloria Eissen is a junior concentrating in contemplative studies. Fall 2015 23