Left Out

The other day my Dad was holding my niece and my daughter. My nephew took notice of this. He felt left out that the girls got to be held by Grandpa and he did not. He did not cry about it, but you could tell his discomfort. His parents, my mom and I all felt bad for the little guy. When my niece was done with Grandpa, we let Grandpa hold him and my daughter hoping that would suffice.

That same day a friend of mine’s very young daughter cried when the other bigger kids were playing but she was not. Her mom looked at her and asked, “Are you feeling left out?”

It is okay when you’re a kid to cry or show discomfort when you are left out. Especially when they are super young as that is the only way they know how to express that. It’s also amazing how young it happens. Both of these young children were under the age of two.

However the feeling does not suddenly dissipate the older we get. It is still there. The only thing different is that we know how to mask it better. Well some of us anyways. Instead of crying or complaining we either pretend it did not happen or hide how we really feel, but it is still there. The adults who do cry or complain (extensively) usually get avoided more so because no one likes to be around another adult who is throwing a temper tantrum like a child.

But there are other areas we can feel left out on that do not have to deal with people per se. For example, I sometimes feel left out I do not have a spouse when many of my friends and family have one, others may feel left out that they do not have children or the career they always wanted; or perhaps there is that relationship where one party left it.

It is still there no matter how old we are.

We simply do not like to be forgotten or alone. None of us do. Some are forgotten more than others but I’m sure we have all been there at one time or another.

But then I realize how we leave God out of so many things now. It’s not like this has just started now, humanity has been doing this throughout all of time. It appears it comes back to our sinfulness.

I think of Jesus and how He was forgotten when He was crucified. All the disciples, except John (John 19:25-27) fled. Even God turned His back on Jesus at one time (Matthew 27:46). If ever someone has experienced aloneness, I’m sure that would be the time.