A 2006 study in the American Sociological Review found that Americans on average had only two close friends to confide in, down from an average of three in 1985. The survey also recorded that the percentage of people who noted having no such confidant had risen from 10 percent to almost 25 percent since previous such surveys; and 19 additional percent said they had only a single confidant, often citing their spouse, raising the risk of serious loneliness in the event of their marital relationship ending.
In 1998, census data recorded that over a quarter of the population of the United States lived alone, and in 2010 it is estimated that around 31 million people will live in single-person households as compared to 24 million back in 1995. It is not uncommon in American society today to have hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles separating directly related “family of origin” members, the distance significantly familial bonds. And even more ironically, city populations are growing at alarming rates and creating greater disconnection, with heavily populated cities becoming centers of increased isolation and loneliness and experts report that the sheer number of random people one might meet walking down the sidewalk on any given day in any given city actually works to increase barriers to relationships and true intimacy.
Couple this common and increasing sense of feeling lost, alone and disconnected with the rapid rate of change that our Modern-Post-Modern culture is rocketing through and you have a wide range of human experiences that have one common emotional denominator:
Disorientation.
Where do you go in times of disconnection and disorientation?
So often, people of various faiths attempt to sell their philosophy or religion on the basis of its benefits, particularly the practical principles of applied religion to things like morality, ethics and just plain good living. The Christian faith has its proponents who attempt the same approach and the idea of getting a little religion has become a great American past time, Christian or otherwise.
But let me offer one simple observation: loneliness, disconnection and disorientation cut deeper into the soul than simply the felt needs of making relationships work, raising a family, managing your finances and all the rest of the important practical aspects of life.
And from Abraham, to Joseph, to the prophets, to the Jews in Exile, to Jesus in the wilderness, to John the Baptist in prison, to John the Divine on the island of Patmos, people of the Bible with true and lasting faith in God through Christ have discovered one deep, heart-flooding, soul-penetrating truth about being a lost, lonely, disconnected and disoriented human being: God cares about you and, in times of great disorientation, He can be known personally and in ways you’ve never imagined.
Have you discovered this about God?
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