Day 22: Beyond loneliness

‘In that day seven women
       will take hold of one man
       and say, “We will eat our own food
       and provide our own clothes;
       only let us be called by your name.
       Take away our disgrace!” ‘ (Isaiah 4:1)

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10:00 AM – Welcome back to the interactive world

When you have not much to do on the weekend, you’ve come to realize that you ought to be grateful for your job even more so. I’ve realized that I have nice and witty colleagues and team that make me laugh. I have things to work on either by myself or with my colleagues. And, although I have users that annoy me from time to time, it’s much better to be occupied rather than being alone doing nothing.

So, I think I’m beginning to like Mondays more now.

05:00 PM – What’s the stat says?

I was wondering how the current world is demographically mapped. How many women, how many men, how many girls, how many boys, how many senior women, how many senior men. How are we mapped based on our sex and age? I was really curious because I read somewhere that the single women population was growing.

Why are people finding it more difficult to find marriage partners? Is it because there aren’t enough men for the women? I browsed to the UN site and it turned out that by 2005 the number of men v women was one to one. Are there more under age boys so that women find it difficult to get married? Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the table for the age mapping. Or, are there more gay men than straight ones? Now, that is an even more difficult mapping to find.

Well, perhaps, even if the numbers are balanced on each side, the modern civilization makes it more difficult for women to pair up. They have more freedom to choose now. And, when they are financially independent, they will be even pickier. They may want men who are financially stable, smarter, and know how to deal with women. Christian women may add to those spiritual maturity. Now, those are rarities these days, I supposed. That’s why there are many single women settle for being mistresses. The men they want are mostly taken. So, when opportunities arise, adultery is difficult to resist. I know because I’ve been there.

What a challenge female christian singles are facing nowadays.

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06.30 PM – What the Bible says

I remember what the Apostle Paul said to the Corinthians about being married and unmarried. He actually encouraged the unmarried to stay unmarried. He did not say that marriage was bad, but he pointed to the disadvantage and danger of being married. When one is married, he/she will have concerns about the affairs of this world: how to please his/her spouse and children. It will be more difficult to have undivided devotion to the LORD. The danger in this situation is one may commit the sin of idolatry by putting his/her spouse as the center of his/her life, instead of GOD.

Well, it is true. We are wayward creatures, who are easily distracted by things we can see. GOD is invisible and it is a challenge to remain focused on Him. Paul knew this when he said that he encouraged people to stay unmarried; not to restrict us, but so that we may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

On the other hand, I know it is not so easy in practice. The world has developed into a very individualistic environment. People don’t get the family and community support as in the old days, while the society is still family-centric in its expectation from its members. Anyone beyond 30 years old will have to deal with the pressure of constantly being asked when they will get married. Yet, the modern world makes it more and more difficult to meet the opposite sex and pair up.

So, there you go – the challenges of being single (and Christian) in the 21st century. I realize now, that is exactly why I need to fully depend on GOD. I think, if we look beyond our loneliness, we’ll find GOD. We can live fully and abundantly NOW. No need to wait for a husband to live happily and content.

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