https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/blog\/the-gen-y-guide\/201702\/why-millennials-are-lonely<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I found myself wondering whether the phenomenon is related \u2014 as either cause or effect or some combination of the two \u2014 to the rise of the religious \u201cnones,\u201d and to the increasing number of those (especially of the younger generation) who are disaffiliated from communities of worship and, indeed, from communities altogether.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I also found myself thinking of the ex-Mormon message boards that I\u2019ve seen, where people who, by and large, have never actually met each other create ersatz<\/em> \u201ccommunities.\u201d \u00a0Every Sunday, so far as I can tell, one of the atheistic apostate boards that I check in on features a thread in which participants boast of all the wonderful things they\u2019re supposedly doing instead of attending \u201cthe so-called Church.\u201d \u00a0One of the things that they\u2019re clearly doing, however, is sitting alone at home, typing messages on their computers to virtual strangers who share their bitterness and alienation. \u00a0(Quite often, their comments involve contemptuous descriptions of the \u201cMor(m)ons\u201d \u2014 not uncommonly their spouses, parents, and\/or children \u2014 who\u2019re away at church services. \u00a0Moreover, as far as I can see, there\u2019s also a Friday thread about what everybody\u2019s drinking that weekend. \u00a0I\u2019ve wondered whether that discussion might be inadvertently rather revealing.)<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anyway, I\u2019ll shortly be off, interacting with a community of people with whom \u2014 over, now, quite a few years \u2014 we\u2019ve shared a great deal of fun, a fair amount of work, quite a bit of serious conversation and mutual service, and some sorrow. \u00a0I scarcely regret it.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wish that he hadn\u2019t tossed in the reference about passing a \u201cpipe\u201d around, but, otherwise, John Denver\u2019s \u201cPoems, Prayers, and Promises\u201d \u2014 I confess a bit guiltily that I like several of his songs \u2014 capture something of my feeling about belonging to an actual community of real people, not merely one of embittered strangers on a message board:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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I\u2019ve been lately thinking<\/span><\/strong>
\nAbout my life\u2019s time<\/span><\/strong>
\nAll the things I\u2019ve done<\/span><\/strong>
\nAnd how it\u2019s been<\/span><\/strong>
\nAnd I can\u2019t help believing<\/span><\/strong>
\nIn my own mind<\/span><\/strong>
\nI know I\u2019m gonna hate to see it end<\/span><\/strong>\nI\u2019ve seen a lot of sunshine<\/span><\/strong>
\nSlept out in the rain<\/span><\/strong>
\nSpent a night or two all on my own<\/span><\/strong>
\nI\u2019ve known my lady\u2019s pleasures<\/span><\/strong>
\nHad myself some friends<\/span><\/strong>
\nAnd spent a time or two all on my own<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nAnd I have to say it now<\/span><\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s been a good life all in all<\/span><\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s really fine<\/span><\/strong>
\nTo have a chance to hang around<\/span><\/strong>
\nAnd lie there by the fire<\/span><\/strong>
\nAnd watch the evening tire<\/span><\/strong>
\nWhile all my friends and my old lady<\/span><\/strong>
\nSit and pass the pipe around<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nAnd talk of poems and prayers and promises<\/span><\/strong>
\nAnd things that we believe in<\/span><\/strong>
\nHow sweet it is to love someone<\/span><\/strong>
\nHow right it is to care<\/span><\/strong>
\nHow long it\u2019s been since yesterday<\/span><\/strong>
\nAnd what about tomorrow<\/span><\/strong>
\nAnd what about our dreams<\/span><\/strong>
\nAnd all the memories we share<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nThe days they pass so quickly now<\/span><\/strong>
\nNights are seldom long<\/span><\/strong>
\nAnd time around me whispers when it\u2019s cold<\/span><\/strong>
\nThe changes somehow frighten me<\/span><\/strong>
\nStill I have to smile<\/span><\/strong>
\nIt turns me on to think of growing old<\/span><\/strong>
\nFor though my life\u2019s been good to me<\/span><\/strong>
\nThere\u2019s still so much to do<\/span><\/strong>
\nSo many things my mind has never known<\/span><\/strong>
\nI\u2019d like to raise a family<\/span><\/strong>
\nI\u2019d like to sail away<\/span><\/strong>
\nAnd dance across the mountains on the moon<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nI have to say it now<\/span><\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s been a good life all in all<\/span><\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s really fine<\/span><\/strong>
\nTo have the chance to hang around<\/span><\/strong>
\nAnd lie there by the fire<\/span><\/strong>
\nAnd watch the evening tire<\/span><\/strong>
\nWhile all my friends and my old lady<\/span><\/strong>
\nSit and pass the pipe around<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nAnd talk of poems and prayers and promises<\/span><\/strong>
\nAnd things that we believe in<\/span><\/strong>
\nHow sweet it is to love someone<\/span><\/strong>
\nHow right it is to care<\/span><\/strong>
\nHow long it\u2019s been since yesterday<\/span><\/strong>
\nWhat about tomorrow<\/span><\/strong>
\nWhat about our dreams<\/span><\/strong>
\nAnd all the memories we share<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n
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