Loneliness can often be used as a basis for a relationship. This book suggests that the issue is not whether one is single or married, but whether one is fully alive and in a loving relationship with oneself, friends, family, the world around, the church family, and above all, God himself.
By the end of the century, it is estimated that 45% of adults will live alone. The Christian church has already arrived at this statistic; almost half of all adult church members are single, divorced, or widowed. For some, singleness is a chosen way of life, but for many others, it is definitely second-best.
Long term singleness can result in a crippling sense of anxiety, which in itself dooms many potential new friendship from the start.
The answer is not to find that someone special who will simply fill the gap, maintains Helena Wilkinson.
'Beyond Singleness' shows how the personal pitfalls of loneliness and anxiety can be avoided, how unhelpful stereotyped ideas can be challenged and changed, how the 'real person' inside can be nurtured and cared for, so that relationships with others become more honest, rewarding and enriching.
