“Original Solitude”
Based on pages 9-15 from The Theology of the Body in Simple Language
One of man's original experiences is the experience of being "alone" (Genesis 2:18), the first observation of all creation that God says is "not good." This solitude is multifaceted and each aspect has a bodily component. Man is alone and utterly unique in relationship to the rest of creation, in relationship to himself as a body/soul complex, and in relationship to God with whom he is uniquely related. We will explore each of these aspects of original solitude.
What is man's solitude as related to the created world?
Man sees that he is different from the rest of the created order. His relationship with the earth is one of caring for and cultivating the earth, a task unique to man, a body among bodies, but one uniquely qualified to do it. Man alone is in a covenant relationship with God, tasked by God to care for Creation. In addition, man is aware of being different from the animals he names. He has a body as they do, but there is more. And man sees that among all the animals "there was not found a helper fit [corresponding to] him” (Gen 2:20).
What is man's solitude before God?
John Paul II says that as "a partner of the Absolute, man is in a unique, exclusive and unrepeatable relationship with God himself” (TOB, 151). It is a mark of man's uniqueness that God created Him in a different way: God "formed [him] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life" (Gen 2:7). Man was aware of an inner life, an interior space that houses both consciousness and self-determination. He is able to be God’s representative on earth.
Thus we see two kinds of solitude: Adam is without Eve. Yes, but something of solitude remains even after Eve is created. It is a metaphysical solitude, the capacity of the human being to feel alone. lf man feels alone, it is because only God can fulfill him. It refers to the transcendence and the infinity of God. Man is not made for isolation. Man is made for relationship with God.
Solitude is not simply to be alone. Solitude is the other side of the call to be in communion with God. Solitude is not the lack of relationship, but it is the experience of a relationship with one whose face l cannot see. I experience relationship with God as though something is lacking. I’ve been called to live with him. Man is himself only because he's in relationship with God-only man can give a response to God’s creation of him.
Note also that God gives man the freedom to live outside of this relationship, but at a cost: "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat you shall surely die" (Gen 2:17). These words speak of death, which is foreign to man's experience. John Paul II says these words "appeared on the horizon of man's consciousness without his ever having experienced the reality … a radical antithesis of all the man had been endowed with” (TOB, 155).
So this too is part of man's "original solitude": he can receive a message from God outside of his experience and he is invited to believe it and to act upon it. The alternative between death and immortality is also part of his original experience.
Questions for discussion
1. Adam discovers his solitude in and through his body. Adam’s work of tilling the ground and his creative task of naming the animals present him with encounters that reveal his solitude. His solitude was not discovered in isolation, but in an encounter with the world.
Think of a time when an encounter with someone or something outside of yourself led to a feeling of being alone. For example, have you had the experience of being with other people-even dearly loved ones-and feeling alone? Have you ever contemplated a starry night, and felt an inner solitude?
2. Consider: what was God’s response to Adam’s original solitude? What is God’s response to our sense of solitude today?
3. Have you ever felt God telling you something, or asking you to do something, that was foreign to your experience? What are possible responses we can make to God in this situation? What role does trust play in our relationship with God?
P.S. The recent Matt Damon film, We Bought a Zoo, touches on many of these themes. If you have seen the movie, reflect on how the themes of original solitude are woven throughout the movie. (Fun homework: watch the movie!)
Please leave your comments below or send questions to TruroTOB@gmail.com.
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