A New Virus
According to the latest research
there is a spreading virus running rampant in our country. It is called “loneliness.” It seems that this virus causes more damage
to the human body than smoking, drinking too much, or even heart disease.
(Study by Dr. Brian Primack –featured on the Today Show April 23, 2018)
Wow, I knew that loneliness was a
sad state but had no idea that it was spreading and was so harmful. Another surprising finding is that the spread
of social media actually increases the spread of the “disease.” It seems that viewing social media makes
lonely people feel that other people “have a life,” but they do not.
Okay, we all know that all those “friends”
we have on Facebook are not real friends.
O, some of them might be, but we probably need to drop the nomenclature
and call those folks who view our grandchildren’s pictures and accounts of our
latest new adventure, “Facebook viewers.”
Do we not water down the concept of what a friend really is by claiming
we have 1,136 “friends?”
So what is the cure for the
spreading loneliness? According to the
news story I saw on TV, the beginning of the cure is to be creative and to
reach out and risk being in some kind or a relationship that has some depth to
it.
From my vast experience and
knowledge (sigh) this is easier for some to do than others. With all my public life over 47 years of
being a minister most people in my congregations probably assumed that I was an
extrovert for sure. Fact is that I am
quite the introvert type but learned early that being so would not work. So I became a functioning extrovert but it
was not always easy.
Needing to “be there” for people
helped bring me out. So to all of you
who might read this out there and who may be suffering quietly from the
spreading loneliness virus, I say do not suffer alone. Take a chance on reaching out and making a
connection especially by helping out someone else who you might suspect to be
experiencing symptoms of this social malady.
I remember one of Don McLean’s songs
that contained these lyrics:
Step off the platform and onto
the train
Look out your window and into the rain
Watch all the buildings that pass as you ride
And count all the stories that go on inside
And then ask yourself if it must be this way
Should walls and doors and plaster ceilings
Separate us from each others' feelings? (From “Three Flights Up”)
Look out your window and into the rain
Watch all the buildings that pass as you ride
And count all the stories that go on inside
And then ask yourself if it must be this way
Should walls and doors and plaster ceilings
Separate us from each others' feelings? (From “Three Flights Up”)
There are many kinds of “walls and
plaster ceilings.” Not all of them are
made of wood or other kinds of building material. Many of them are emotional and
spiritual. Their foundations were laid
over the years from fear and small failures.
So if you are reading this and you
are suffering from this “new found” but old virus I hope you will reach out and
take a chance. Or if you are for now very
healthy and not in need of a cure then look around for someone who seems to be
symptomatic. We are all in this together
or at least we should be.
The other virus that is spreading is
rampant individualism whose major symptom is a spiritual rash of the soul that claims,
“It’s all about me.” We can do better
and if we do, we all will be healthier.
Jody
