A:  Thanks for writing to us here at Truthbook.com .

I am sorry to hear that you are facing so many troubles right now. I think that all of us go through times where it seems that nothing is going right, and we just feel overwhelmed with it all.

And of course, one of the most valuable things to have in this life is someone who will be on our side, who will be with us no matter what, who believes in us, and most of all—someone who will LISTEN to us and actually HEAR what we are saying. The human heart longs for expression.

Ideally, you would be able to find a friend or family member who you would trust with your innermost thought and feelings; maybe that is part of your dilemma these days; maybe you feel misunderstood. Maybe your problems are just so severe, you have a hard time even putting them into words?

When we are having trouble finding what we need most—when our deepest expressions go unheard—when the company of our fellows is just not enough—the teachings of The Urantia Book help us to bridge the gap.

It might comfort you to know that Jesus himself experienced the very human feelings that you expressed in your note. He was in the middle of terrible trouble; he had no one who really understood him, no one to talk to; he felt alone; he suffered, in a very human way, all of these difficulties.

I would like to share a short story from the Life and Teachings of Jesus ; this is the scene of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, just before his arrest:

(182:3.9) Jesus’ heart was being crushed; he truly loved his brethren. He was isolated from his family in the flesh; one of his chosen associates was betraying him. His father Joseph’s people had rejected him and thereby sealed their doom as a people with a special mission on earth. His soul was tortured by baffled love and rejected mercy. It was just one of those awful human moments when everything seems to bear down with crushing cruelty and terrible agony.

Jesus’ humanity was not insensible to this situation of private loneliness, public shame, and the appearance of the failure of his cause. All these sentiments bore down on him with indescribable heaviness. In this great sorrow his mind went back to the days of his childhood in Nazareth and to his early work in Galilee. At the time of this great trial there came up in his mind many of those pleasant scenes of his earthly ministry. And it was from these old memories of Nazareth, Capernaum, Mount Hermon, and of the sunrise and sunset on the shimmering Sea of Galilee, that he soothed himself as he made his human heart strong and ready…

This was how Jesus managed to rise above one the most terrible times anyone could experience, and maybe in it, you’ll find a way to help yourself, too, in the short-term. Even the memory of something as ordinary as a beautiful sunset was enough to lift the spirits of the Master. Abandon your cares for a moment; look for some beauty in your life; think on happier times for awhile.

Jesus always practiced communion with God as a way to find all the answers to the problems of life that he encountered; and there were many. He would often go apart by himself and talk to God in prayer. Here is one way for you to begin to solve your problems in the long-term. It is what Jesus taught:

(146:2.4) 3. By opening the human end of the channel of the God-man communication, mortals make immediately available the ever-flowing stream of divine ministry to the creatures of the worlds. When man hears God’s spirit speak within the human heart, inherent in such an experience is the fact that God simultaneously hears that man’s prayer.

You can read Jesus’ entire discourse about prayer HERE

So, even if you lack a human source of the “listening ear,” you can still do as Jesus did, and turn to your Father in Heaven. You can be of good cheer, for you are never alone in this life, as you carry God within your mind , so he is always as close as a thought, a longing, a prayer…with continued practice, you’ll become more and more able to find him, and he will become your closest confidante. God wants to be your all, and he will eventually supply all that you need to overcome your problems, when you turn to him with an open heart. He knows you better than you know yourself…

Thanks again for writing to us. I hope that you begin feeling better very soon.”