How About An Old Fashioned Friend Request?

“One of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder where you are when you don’t come home at night.”

Deep in the woods, where it is darkest and only the moon knows its way, there stands a cabin. By all rights, it should be pitch black and cold, silent in the mute of the night. But a passing neighbor, out running with the dogs in the frosty air, has paused long enough to switch on an old copper lantern. It glows amber, warming the way to the cabin.

In this season where aloneness may suddenly turn lonely, we need to do what this neighbor has done. We need to leave a light on for each other.

Census reports tell us that more and more people are living alone. Old, young, single, divorced, whatever . . . we are living solitary lives by choice or by circumstance.

Living by oneself can be a glory of solitude or it can be an ordeal. Most often it’s both; like so much else in life, shifting portions of heaven and of hell. During the holidays, many who normally revel in living life at their own pace, suddenly feel a pang. Logical or not, we all have embedded in us like genetic markers, memories of Christmases past. Few of them truly were Hallmark specials . . . but that tends to be forgotten when the strains of Silent Night start twisting their way in and around our hearts.

So how about leaving the light on for those pals of yours, that cousin or cube-mate or neighbor? How about making the phone call, dropping by, or inviting your buddy, the one who always seems so independent, so thoroughly self-sufficient, for Christmas dinner? How about going beyond writing on your friend’s Facebook wall or tweeting ‘Happy Holidays’ in 140 characters?

I am not talking neediness here . . . or even making the assumption that everyone who lives alone is rattling with loneliness. I am simply suggesting that we look beyond our own very busy noses during this season . . . because maybe, just maybe, that house down the road has been shrouded in darkness for too long.

What about that pal of yours from the office who can’t get a flight home . . . and what of your friend who’s newly separated and away from her children for the first Christmas Eve ever? And what of the legions of newly laid-off — more than 110,000 in technology alone? So many of us are facing upheaval of all kinds. So many of us are newly uncertain on our paths. So many are searching for a beacon.

Amidst all the blazing lights of December, the one you leave on for a friend may be the brightest.