Loneliness at Yale is an enemy of wellbeing, even for those who enjoy solitude. In a recent Yale Daily News article, Sharla Moody, a senior in Berkeley College and one of our talented leaders, narrates how loneliness clouded her student experience at the college of her dreams. That’s because even at Yale, nothing is more valuable than satisfying the human longing for loving and life-giving relationships. We are all made to experience and enjoy fellowship with God and each other.
At CU Lux, we know that well-being happens in community. Students are satisfied when they are deeply known and loved. It is in friendships that they learn about sacrifice—that sacrifice takes hard work and should be done in light of God’s friendship with us. To that end, we are intentional about centering all our activities, from weekly prayer meetings to Bible courses and leadership lecture series to spiritual retreats, around building community.
Would you join us in praying that our community will grow in unity and number this spring semester? Pray that students living joyfully in the freedom of God’s embrace will embrace each other and welcome the lonely strangers on this big campus.
Sharla’s experience changed when she found herself praying, “God, please just give me friends!” and in “divinely comedic timing,” her door opened and the prayer was answered. We belong to God and we belong to each other, and the love we extend to one other enriches our lives. In Sharla’s own words:
Recognition that every person can only enrich us in some way — recognition that extending love to others is the basis of a good life, that extending love to others also extends love to ourselves and our capacity for a fuller life — this has been the philosophy that has driven my final year at Yale, and though I am yet in the midst of it today, I can say with assuredness that I am all the better for it. There are many things I have learned at Yale, but this is surely the most valuable.No more loneliness. When we spend time with God, we become people who give life to others through our friendship, care, and time. And when the friendship we have with God provides an opportunity to become someone else’s friend, we always take it.
Blessings,
Ben Pascut
Ministry Director
Christian Union Lux
