The Bible teaches us that human beings are essentially relational.  Even in the very beginning, before evil had broken the perfect creation, it was not good for Adam to be alone.  Just as God himself is triune, a being defined by relationship, we in his image are designed to thrive in community with others.  No man is or should be an island.

This truth helps us to understand why the past six months of limited contact with those we love has left many of us feeling drained, frustrated and empty.   Even if it comes from the best of intentions, we simply are not meant to live this way.

But this social isolation is not a new experience for many of those we support at Just Caring.  Some of our beneficiaries struggle to build meaningful, trusting relationships after having been scarred by neglect, trauma or even abuse.  Others find that their learning difficulties make interacting with others challenging and they have little confidence in their own ability to understand and make themselves be understood by others.

One of our aims has always been to try to develop a sense of community amongst those we support.  Whilst this has been a far from easy road, it has been such an encouragement to see people who really struggle in social settings begin to open up and relax and even enjoy being around familiar faces in our group activities like the Drop In.  Through COVID-19 we have been able to carry on with many of these meetings using Zoom.  However not everyone has the data to be able to take part and seeing small pictures on a screen is very different from being in a room with actual people.

There are no simple, easy-fix remedies to the problem of loneliness in our society.  COVID-19 may have accentuated it, but it was always there, and it probably always will be.

As Christians we have the privilege of never being truly alone, for we have the gift of the Spirit of truth dwelling in and with us forever.  This is our prayer for those we support, that they will find a friend in our God who made them to be not only in relationship with others but with himself as well.  We know that this would not make every symptom of loneliness magically disappear, but God is the only one who has the resources and the wisdom and the grace to carry us through this broken life.