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Longing For a Fellowship Of Faith — Nicole Sallak Anderson
Last week, US Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn) introduced legislation to address the epidemic of loneliness in our country. Many on social media took to chastising the government for their own role in the issue-the closures of schools, workplaces, and places of worship for so long during the pandemic in many states absolutely increased this sense of loneliness. Even though these institutions have reopened, there’s a sense of mistrust and fracturing within many communities, as if we aren’t sure how to relate to one another anymore. In addition, many white-collar jobs are now mostly remote, for the laptop class still insists they remain home to earn their livings while the downtowns of cities turn into ghost towns and young college graduates never see a human face to face. My own son went into videogame design in 2019, back when we still went into the office, and now as he approaches his senior year, has had three different internships where he never left his apartment. He described his typical workday to me like this:
“I get up, shower, get coffee, sit at my desk in my bedroom. I sit there all day, take a lunch break, then sit there until dinner. Then after dinner, I return to the same desk to play video games.”
Or watch shows. Or FaceTime with friends. The result is the same-he works in the same seat in which he also…