Dr Paul Allen

We live in a lonely and anxious age. Major studies reflect the same dismal trend: people are increasingly isolated. A 2021 study by American Perspectives exposes the sharp decline in friendship in the U.S. over the past 30 years. They found that  10 per cent of women and 15 per cent of men report they don’t have a single friend.  The percentage of women with more than 10 friends has dropped from 28 per cent to 11 per cent. For men, from 40 per cent to 15 per cent.  We’re more and more isolated, and we feel it deeply. According to another report, 61 per cent of adults in America feel lonely, and the rates of loneliness are highest among younger people. In the U.S., life expectancy has decreased for the first time in many years. This context makes the words Jesus said to his followers shortly before his death more urgent: “By this, all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have a love for one another” (John 13:35). These words have permanently been binding on t...