Building Fences Around Our Castles

 When you take a snapshot of our personal and collective wealth compared to just 30 years ago, it is staggering. While pockets of poverty exist, even our poor live much better than the majority of the world. Our “middle class” is extraordinarily well off, living in a world that is virtually limitless in its ability to produce, supply and purchase more goods and luxuries.

While money buys automobiles, homes, and clothes it ultimately buys isolation. If we were 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 lead to problems untold. 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 with no connection to our fellow man.

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 then I was saddened, because he is like so many of us. Rather than face the world, dangerous and frightening it may be, we choose to live in our own prisons. The light of day passes with nary a nod of acknowledgement, for we are captives of the dark.


A loner crane is one tough bird, especially when surrounded by more than 20,000 at the Monte Vista Crane Festival

 How many of us have built a legion of acquaintances and yet avoiding true friendship? The quest for “soulmate” is a juggernaut, elusive because we are looking for the wrong things. Reaching out to fill the holes in our souls, we find nothing. Combating 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.

“A man of many companions will come to ruin,’ says Proverbs 18.10. “But there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.”
“God help me be a better friend! “

What do you think about this trend toward isolationism?