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FROM THE PASTOR
February 2012
LOVE IN A LONELY WORLD
We
live in a world where people are electronically “in touch”
more than ever before.
A move from one location to another used to mean
“losing touch” with family and friends.
But today we engage in “social networking”.
With all our texting and e-mailing science is
cautioning the public that loneliness and a sense of
isolation is plaguing many people.
Consider the following
article:
Lonely on the Worldwide Web
A
paper by six researchers at Carnegie Mellon University,
published in The
American
Psychologist, reported the startling news that the
Internet, is actually bad for some people’s psychological
well-being.
Across the board, the researchers found a small but
statistically significant trend:
the more time the subjects spent at their keyboards,
the more depressed and lonely they were at the end of the
experiment.
This result wasn’t just surprising, it was paradoxical,
according to the study’s lead author, Robert Kraut of
Carnegie Mellon’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute.
Unlike people who watch a lot of television, who
generally know they’re wasting time and despise themselves
for it, the Internet users reported enjoying the time they
spent online.
And they did commendably useful things with it, like the
woman who sent a pair of mittens to someone she met through
an online knitting group, or the teenager who met a girl
online and took her to the prom.
Far-flung family members stayed in closer touch with
e-mail, and some casual acquaintances graduated to
friendships.
Hence the paradox, says Kraut:
“They’re using it socially, they’re enjoying the use
of it socially, yet [the Internet] seems to be associated
with symptoms of social isolation, such as depression and
loneliness.”
We
celebrate love at Valentine’s as well we should but love is
more than romance and much deeper than a feeling.
Paul describes God’s enduring love in I Corinthians
13. This love
doesn’t leave us high and dry.
May our love for families, friends and even
sweethearts be the enduring love God places in the human
heart. Happy
Valentine Day!
All God’s Best in
the New Year,
Stan
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