LONELINESS!
LONELINESS! NOW CONSIDERED A NATIONAL EPIDEMIC! Ever wondered what it takes to live 100 years? Social scientists have studied the lives of centenarians to discern what are the predictors for a long, healthy life … and thus understand what are the social traits that negatively affect our lives.
Their conclusion: The secret to living longer may be our social life – the level of our interaction with others, whether casual or formal. And the #1 predictor of those social traits that create a negative impact on a long life was loneliness! (Susan Pinker at TED2017).
Is it any wonder then that the British Prime Minister recently appointed an official “minister of loneliness’? It may sound bizarre, but those social scientists who study the health effects of loneliness say that isolation makes us sick and can cause deadly harm to our bodies.
“Loneliness can kill you,” cites Steve Cole, the director of the UCLA Social Genomics Core Laboratory who studies the impact of loneliness on human health at a molecular level. “The risk of death is on par with a really enthusiastic smoking habit or being overweight or obese.” How? Chronic loneliness can sap our immune system and make us more vulnerable to disease.
The antidote to loneliness is present within the body of Christ. First, God calls us to a life in community with one another – where fellowship enables Christ followers to be social and encourage one another (I Thess. 5:11). And to do so with a purpose – “so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Heb. 3:13). We can look for the shut-in or the homeless and seek ways to provide for their social integration and encourage them with our presence.
Second, God provides us with the promise of Emmanuel – ‘God with us’! We need not go it alone! Jesus came in human flesh to be alongside as our companion – and after His resurrection he fulfilled the promise in sending the Holy Spirit to be our Advocate (John 14: 16) – “to help us and be present with us forever.”
“Fear not, for I am with you.” –Isaiah 43: 5
Finally, God nudges us to pray for one another and with one another. Prayer becomes a means of connecting with the One who is our Present Help – as we connect with others to be their present help. Since God is present all of the time and He is near his children in their trials, praying for one another can mend the broken and strengthen the weary.
Pausing to pray with someone in their time of need can combine all three of these as one unified approach to combating loneliness. The best pill for loneliness is not physical medicine – but found in the social and spiritual application of the body of Christ living out their faith – being present socially and being prayerful spiritually! Being the hands of Christ to a hurting soul can lift the spirit and induce new health.
Think about it!