Today I went to the dog park in the rain. The park was empty, just me and my dog, and the cold rain. There was a rather sad and lonely feel to the place. We walked around and I threw the ball a few times, but we didn't stay long.
It was a huge contrast to a normal day at the park. There are normally several dogs and their owners, running and playing and laughing happy doggy laughs. I find so much joy just watching them play fetch and chase and wrestling around.
When the park is empty and not in use, it loses something. It's appeal comes from being used properly. When no one's there, it loses that purpose, and becomes a mere shell-- chain link fence around a field, the grass worn down to mud in places, with a few abandoned tennis balls lying wherever they've fallen.
In the same way, a person's life loses purpose when it's not being used properly. We are meant to have friends, to go out and work and play and interact with each other. I have been spending a good deal of time alone lately, and today brought home the fact that this is not the way I was meant to live. Without a job to go to, or people to interact with, I become stagnant, sitting alone and sinking deeper into a sense of helplessness and loneliness.
It says in the New Testament "Do not forsake the gathering of yourselves together." Hebrews 10:24. And it is profoundly true, not just for religion's sake. It's necessary just to live well.
Or at least it is for me. So that is what I learned from today's trip to the dog park.
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