I read a story about a man who interviewed Al Worden. The article called Worden “The Loneliest Human Being.” Al Worden was the command module pilot for Apollo 15 mission.
He is one of seven men who have been the farthest away from earth. The job of the command module pilot, unlike the other astronauts of the Apollo missions, does not allow him to step foot on the Moon. Instead, he pilots the lunar – orbiting module while the rest are on the surface collecting samples of rocks and minerals.
During the orbit, the pilot only gets about 3 hours of sleep a day; for the other 21 hours he is constantly working on scientific study and photographing and mapping the surface of the Moon. And
for part of the orbit, he is on the dark side of the Moon. This is where the feeling of isolation sets in because the Moon blocks any contact with other people including Houston and the astronauts on the surface. During that span of time, he is both the farthest person away from humans and human contact.
The author of the article asked, “Wasn’t it lonely?” Worden said: “There’s a thing about being alone and there’s a thing about being lonely, and they’re two different things. I was alone but I was not lonely…I thoroughly enjoyed it…On the backside of the Moon, I didn’t even have to talk to Houston and that was the best part of the flight.”
LESSON FOR US:
Loneliness is subjective. You can be alone without feeling lonely — even when you are literally the most isolated person from the rest of humanity. Worden did not feel lonely because he enjoyed the silence. He enjoyed focusing on his work without being bothered. He knew that he wasn’t truly alone and that he would be back in contact with the Earth.
Some people in this room today feel lonely and for many different reasons. Maybe you’re single and you feel as though you’ll never find “the one.” Maybe you’ve experienced a death in your family. Maybe you’re experiencing trying times in your life and you feel that no one understands you or can offer any comfort.
The truth is that you are not alone. You are only lonely. Worden, even though he was actually alone, isolated from all of humanity, still did not feel alone because he knew his orbit would bring him back into contact with Earth and his team. You and I should NOT feel lonely, knowing that the one true God is always with us. We can never be isolated from Jesus. Isolation from humans is trivial; isolation from God is fatal, yet impossible for His people. The outcome of our circumstances may be uncertain, but the presence of God is a constant.