Let him who cannot be alone beware of community… Let him who is not in community beware of being alone… Each by itself has profound perils and pitfalls. One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and the one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation and despair.

– Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

Do we know how to be really alone and really in community? Or do we play pretend at both – e.g., browsing Facebook alone – and get neither?

Let him who cannot be alone or in community beware of both.