buy the great belonging: how loneliness leads us to each other

In this episode of Hope for the Lonely, I talk to K.J. Ramsey about loneliness and suffering.

Click Here to Listen to Hope for the Lonely Episode 20: Loneliness and Suffering with K.J. Ramsey

K.J. offers much insight, wisdom, and grace in this conversation about loneliness and suffering. She believes in noticing the grace we encounter in the middle of our stories and provides examples of that throughout our conversation. She offers so much insight and makes room for others to rest in God. She is now officially one of my favorite people. Because of my conversation with her and because of the wisdom she shares, I’m able to better endure some physical pain I’ve been experiencing for several months. I still have pain, but I’m not as angsty about my pain. I’m watching and exploring what God has for me in my pain. I’m also going to physical therapy, which has been somewhat helpful. But the pain persists, so I’m trying to be curious about it as I wait for whatever comes next.

So, thank you, K.J., for talking to me about loneliness and suffering. Thank you for your words. Thank you for your work. Thank you for helping me endure this season of pain.

K.J. Ramsey is a therapist, writer, and recovering idealist who believes sorrow and joy coexist. Her first book, This Too Shall Last: Finding Grace When Suffering Lingers, releases with Zondervan in May 2020 and is available for preorder. You can follow K.J.'s writing at kjramsey.com.

Here’s a recent article by K.J. in Christianity Today about lamenting in community.

Learn more about K.J. and her writing.

Learn more about K.J.'s book.

This Too Shall Last releases May 12, 2020 and is now available for preorder.

This Too Shall Last offers an antidote to our cultural idolatry of effort and ease. Through personal story and insights from neuroscience and theology, Ramsey invites us to let our tears become lenses of the wonder that before God ever rescues us, he stands in solidarity with us. We are all mid-story in circumstances we did not choose, wondering when our hard things will end and where grace will come if they don't. We don't need to make suffering a before and after story. Together we can encounter the grace that enters the middle of our stories, where living with suffering that lingers means receiving God's presence that lasts.

Charlotte Donlon is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, and the founder and host of the Our Faith in Writing podcast and website. Charlotte’s writing and work are rooted in noticing how art helps us belong to ourselves, others, God, and the world. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. You can subscribe to her newsletter and connect with her onTwitter and Instagram.