All the lonely people

We are a lonely people.

While money buys automobiles, homes, and clothes, it ultimately buys isolation. Without this wealth, we would once again learn interdependence on each other. We would learn the meaning of borrowing a cup of sugar, of helping a neighbor out of a predicament, of community.

This isolation has led to untold problems. We have built fences around our castles, avoiding any neighborly contact with the push of a garage door opener. We enter these castles eating quick heat dinners and hovering over computer screens without connection to our fellow man.

Yesterday, we went to a veteran’s celebration with a live band and music, a fundraiser for a Medal of Honor statute. We were just one of six people in attendance. Someone commented that rather than escape to a beautiful day with like-minded people it was more convenient to stay home.

COVID-19 forced us all indoors and some of us never came out. We work from home. We don’t go to church anymore. We rarely attend public functions.

This is not healthy.

Remember the Iraqi man who hid 22 years in a wall that he built inside his home, running from Saddam Hussein’s death squads? But he is like so many of us. Rather than face the world, dangerous and frightening it may be, we choose to live in our prisons. The light of day passes with nary a nod of acknowledgment, for we are captives of the dark.

How many men have run from relationships, their superhero complex keeping them from intimacy? How many women have built up a legion of acquaintances yet avoided true friendship?

Many of us try to fill the hollow ache inside with activity, filling our waking moments with parties, leisure, and travel. But one look in the mirror reflects the sadness.

Reaching out to fill the holes in our souls, we find nothing. So we doubt our self-worth, push ourselves away from others, and burrow in a world that no one can understand.

Loneliness cannot be overcome with companionship; otherwise, a dog would fit the bill. Walking down a busy city street can be among the loneliest activities if you don’t know anyone.

Proverbs 18.10 says, “A man of many companions will come to ruin.” But it goes on to say, “there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.”

What do you think the solution is?