In an online class on depression that I'm taking, the professor referred to a statement from Ed Welch’s book, Looking
Up from the Stubborn Darkness, concerning the increase of clinical
depression. Welch identifies our current culture and its influence as a
major role player and cites the lack of community that feeds the feeling of isolation
so prevalent in depression. The feeling that no one cares brings a sense of
aloneness, helplessness, and hopelessness that anything can or will change.
It is my observation that in our culture families tend to drift apart,
by miles from sea to shining sea, but also by the demands of life and a
perceived lack of need for one another. Questions that were once asked of
family, neighbors, or friends are now answered by the click of a mouse. The
lack of connections is keenly felt because God put within us a need for
community. It takes diligence to pursue that community, however, and the
pressures of the culture leave little time or space for its pursuit. Autonomy,
that prideful hedge of self-protection, plays a part that is often overlooked
and mistaken for strength. It separates more than it strengthens.
It seems so paradoxical, that with the proliferation of social
media, that the feeling of isolation is so prevalent. Social media is an
illusion to real relationship, and unless we are keenly aware of its opiate
effect, more and more will succumb to its desensitization of one another. We
tend to hide our real selves behind the screen, and it takes real effort to
actually hear one another’s voice and look into one another’s eyes to see the
hopes and dreams…or lack thereof.
I am encouraged, however, by current attempts of churches like ours that
provide small group opportunities for relationship building. It still takes
effort to participate, but it offers a bridge from one person to another and
helps to create that feeling of community so needed to combat the aloneness
that is often felt. They are occasions when we can connect and look into one
another's eyes and hear one another's voice. And, hopefully, hear each other's
heart.
Image ~ Ruth Eastman Johnson 1824-1906
public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
