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Loneliness? There is a better companion.
Originally published in The Christian Science Monitor’s Christian Science Perspective column January 30, 2024.
Maybe this has happened to you: Someone on the street smiles at you and you smile back. Or the other way around. My favorite is simultaneous smiles between a stranger and me, as though some shared good moved our hearts at the same moment. In any case, such moments—however brief—indicate to me that being connected to others is completely natural and available for all of us.
Around the world, efforts are being made to combat loneliness and isolation. For instance, the United Kingdom and Japan have established Ministers of Loneliness, and some countries have set up “happy to chat” benches in public places to encourage conversations among strangers. It’s encouraging that this issue is being taken to heart.
Whether loneliness comes as a sense of isolation from others or as a feeling of separation from purpose and meaning, at its root is the notion that we are lacking something essential to our wholeness and bereft of opportunities to give and receive good. I’ve found that turning to God in prayer is a vital way to arrive at healing solutions for well-being and completeness, including meaningful relationships and activities.
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