In a recent Atlantic essay titled “The True Cost of the Churchgoing Bust,” columnist Derek Thompson writes that “more Americans today have ‘converted’ out of religion than have converted to all forms of Christianity, Judaism and Islam combined. No faith’s…
Loneliness and tyranny
“What prepares men for totalitarian domination … is the fact that loneliness … has become an everyday experience of the ever-growing masses,” according to Hannah Arendt in The Origins of Totalitarianism, written in 1951. Loneliness, it seems, has moved from…
Can we be friends like Butch and Sundance?
In his memoir, The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man, Paul Newman writes, “I wonder what my old age is going to be like, because I really don’t have many friends. It’s hard to feel lonely in New York, but…
America’s loneliness epidemic is the church’s calling
In a recently released advisory, the U.S. Surgeon General raised an alarm about the “devastating impact of the epidemic of loneliness and isolation in America,” citing harm to individual and societal health and calling on the nation to “prioritize building…
With record levels of loneliness, young men need mentors, research shows
Young men desperately need mentors and safe, understanding communities to help overcome the loneliness they are experiencing at record levels, according to a panel of experts hosted by Springtide Research Institute. “What I’m continuing to hear is they are looking…
Maybe your church needs a minister of loneliness
I deliver Meals on Wheels on Fridays. My routes vary, but the people I serve tend to be older, low-income, often disabled, living alone. That fits the profile of a typical Meals on Wheels client: The program seeks to assist…
Holidays 2020 may evoke a darker shade of grief and isolation, panelists say
The COVID-19 pandemic has imbued grieving and isolation with deeper, darker shades during the 2020 holiday season, a panel of experts said during a Dec. 3 webinar hosted by Baptist News Global. The pain of suffering loss or, for LGBTQ…
Getting into the holiday spirit is hard this year
Along with the election next week, I cannot ignore the fact that the darkest, loneliest period of the year begins Sunday with the end of Daylight Savings Time. Before my husband’s death in April 2009, I never paid much attention…
Six lessons living with chronic illness has taught me about surviving a pandemic
For the last seven years, I’ve battled chronic pain and illness. A traumatic back injury in 2013 was only the beginning of what these years have held for me. Intense treatments and therapies with very slow results kept me hopeful…