Thursday, October 16, 2008

Where is Lonely

There are more people in the world today than ever before and yet more people are lonely than ever. How is it that we often find ourselves in groups but are not very good at building or encouraging community.
It has been said that stores are not just selling a product any longer, they are selling an experience. Say the coffee shop that I visit in town, I go there not just to get the coffee but to experience the cup of coffee. Life should be that way. We should not just go through life getting something out of it, but giving something back to it. We should experience life in the fullest sense of the word. Here is a great quote: "the essence of being human is participation in the essence of the divine being.
One of the best ways to participate in both this life and the divine is in relationships with others. God made us in His image. God is relational, therefore we are relational. When we participate in relationships with others we enter into a fundamental divine activity.
But we struggle with this as a people. George Gallup has said that his research shows that Americans are among the loneliest people. I just read a passage that speaks to this.
Ecclesiastes 4:8-12
"Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for
their work" vs.9

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