When was the last time you
had more than a passing conversation with a human being face-to-face? How about
an extended conversation over a digital device that involved more than a series
of four word sentences? We can read all the books and stories and news bites we
want, but they cannot replace personal and extended human interaction.
These two stories caught my
attention recently and stirred my concern even more for the elderly vulnerable
in our world.
From Great Britain:
“The majority
of people over 75 live alone and about 200,000 older people in the UK have not
had a conversation with a friend or relative in more than a month, according to
government data.
“Most doctors in Britain see between one and five patients a day who have come mainly because they are lonely, according to the Campaign to End Loneliness, a network tackling the health threat isolation poses to the elderly.”
Britain appoints minister for loneliness amid growing isolation,
Reuters, Lee Mannion, January 17, 2018
From CNBC a story about
“ElliQ”:
“A company named Intuition Robotics showed off a new
robot at CES that's specifically designed for the elderly.
“It's a smart voice assistant
with a personality that can help remind senior citizens of upcoming calendar
appointments, show pictures from the family, receive and send messages and
more. It's also supposed to serve as a companion that people can have social
interactions with.”
It is one thing to be alone.
It is altogether different to be lonely. There are many occasions in which we
need to be alone. These might be times of concentrated introspection or when
critical decisions need to be made. They may be times of personal, profoundly
emotional prayer, and no one should be there but the Father and the one praying.
We were never meant to be
lonely. From the beginning we were created to be social beings. God saw the
need and created the two sexes to meet that need.
Gen 2:18 “Then the
LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a
helper fit for him.’”
That need for relationship
was never lost regardless of our sinful state. The heartfelt cry of the
Psalmist reflects this innate need of the human soul.
Psa_25:16 “Turn to me
and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.”
Since the time Cain asked God
if he was responsible as his brother’s keeper (Genesis 4), we must be about the
business of seeking the best for those around us. In the case of the elderly,
it means we are responsible for meeting this critical need of socialization for
them when they cannot do it for themselves. It involves one-on-one contact. It
means including them as individuals of worth in our social circles. It means
never allowing them to think they are forgotten.
As congregations of families
of faith, we are to be clear about the place of our elderly members in our
social circles. Far more than just providing them a chair at the table, we must
encourage them to participate at the highest level they can. Through these
relationships they come to see their value beyond an ability to produce
material results. In this family context they realize their value as
contributors to the social network in the eyes of God as well as those of the spiritual
family.
Loneliness is a confirmed
killer. First it kills the emotions, then the spirit, and finally the body.
There is a known and effective cure. It is called friendship.
