Lonely?
Last year, the Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory on loneliness as being one of the top health threats to Americans' health and well-being (Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation). The advisory noted that the impact of social isolation on mortality is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. Loneliness not only increased the risk of heart disease, dementia, stroke, and premature death, but it is very expensive (accounting for more than $6.7 billion in excess Medicare spending annually).
Axios interviewed Surgeon General Murthy about his observations, and here are a few of his responses:
What do you see? People are often quite ashamed to talk about loneliness and instead use the word invisible.
Why is it such a pervasive problem? The pace of cultural change (technology, job, and location changes) has disrupted relationships, COVID exacerbated it, and online interaction has been substituted for in-person interaction.
How is this affecting young people? In the last two decades, there’s been a 50% decline in the amount of face time with other people.
What do you personally do to combat social isolation? Surgeon General Murthy creates sacred spaces in his life to spend time with people (dinnertime with family, bedtime, dinner with friends) and not with technology. He picks up his phone when friends call.
The U.S. Census Bureau interviewed 59,913 adults just a few months ago (July 23 – August 19, 2024) for their Household Pulse Survey (HPS) and found on average, 40.3% of Americans feel lonely (sometimes or more often). It is interesting is to see which states are the most and least loneliest.
Most lonely states: Alaska (45.9%), Oregon (44.7%), and Washington which is tied with Virginia (43.3%)
Least lonely states: Iowa (35.9%), Delaware (36.5%), and Tennessee which is tied with Wisconsin (37%)
Good news: While we as disciples of Jesus Christ can experience loneliness, God has provided several deterrents that we must utilize in order to enjoy the blessing of relational belonging.
The ministry of God’s enduring Presence: “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Heb. 13:5 quoting Deuteronomy 31:8), and “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
The ministry of Christ’s sympathetic understanding of our weakness: “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15).
The ministry of the Holy Spirit’s testimony of our inclusion: “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.”
The ministry of our adoption into God’s forever family: “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons” (Rom. 8:15), and we are “of God’s household” (Eph. 2:19).
The ministry of God’s interdependent love that was “poured out within our hearts” (Rom. 5:5) to be shared with one another in “the perfect bond of unity” (Col. 3:14).
The ministry of God’s sovereign purpose for our greater “good” as we experience the sorrows of loneliness: “It is good for me that I was afflicted, so that I may learn Your statutes” (Psalm 119:71), and “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28).
In the Path of Loneliness, Elisabeth Elliot (former widow of missionary martyr Jim Elliot) wrote, “Our loneliness cannot always be fixed, but it can always be accepted as the very will of God for right now, and that turns it into something beautiful. Perhaps it is like the field wherein lies the valuable treasure. We must buy the field. It is no sun-drenched meadow embroidered with wildflowers. It is a bleak and empty place, but once we know it contains a jewel the whole picture changes. The empty scrap of forgotten land suddenly teems with possibilities. . . . And when, through a willed act we receive this thing we did not want, then loneliness, the name of the hidden field nobody wants, is transformed into a place of hidden treasure.”
We have the Lord in us, with us, around us, under us, over us, and then He connects us supernaturally into a unique community called the church where we accept, understand, and support one another. Stay connected!
Pastor Jeff
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