Bowling alone?

For a few years now, I have been praying in response to reports of deepening divisions and isolation among people. A book titled “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community” by Robert D. Putnam (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000) has provided some useful insights that suggest specific issues that I can address through prayer.

Putnam notes a drop in participation in traditional social and civic activities, which has led to feelings of isolation, loneliness, and disconnectedness from family, friends, and neighbors. He writes that, by contrast, regular engagement with others builds “social capital.” This term refers to a network of relationships and resources within a community that diminishes loneliness and aids in connectedness, trustworthiness, and mutually respectful relationships.

I’ve found that isolation and diminishing social capital can be addressed effectively through prayer – through growing closer to God and gaining a better understanding of Him as our Father-Mother and of our true, spiritual identity as the expression of His nature as infinite good.

Praying to be more aware of the goodness of God in our everyday experiences and as expressed by others is a good way to start. We see God’s goodness reflected in spiritual qualities such as compassion, patience, and forgiveness, which support the brotherhood and sisterhood of humanity. They make it easier to achieve and maintain a spiritual sense of community.

Christ Jesus taught the importance of seeing in everyone all of God’s qualities, which are inherent in us as the reflection of divine Love. He showed his followers how to love and care for one another just as God cares for us, for only through God’s pure love can we heal the ills of the world. His disciples worked and ate communally and were continually learning from their Teacher and one another. I feel certain that Jesus’ followers were strengthened by the fellowship they shared and that this must have provided a template for the Apostle Paul as he helped lay the foundations of the early Christian church.

Paul referred to his fellow Christians as brothers and sisters and encouraged them to support one another. They shared meals, homes, finances, and the ministry. He called on them to accept everyone as their equal because they were all created by the one God (see Galatians 3:28).

At certain periods in our lives we may feel a sense of isolation and loneliness, or separation from a supportive community. But God is always with us and a present help. In Psalms we are promised, “God setteth the solitary in families” (68:6). Our loving Father-Mother parents us all 24/7, meeting every human need, including companionship.

This became evident to me two years ago when I moved to a house on a street where I did not know anyone. It was a challenging move because it involved selling one house and downsizing while renovating the new home. God’s guidance helped me to navigate the entire experience. I was most grateful for the loving prayers of a Christian Science practitioner. I live alone and have often prayed with the aforementioned passage, “God setteth the solitary in families.”

I was deeply moved to discover that God had in fact placed me in a loving neighborhood “family.” Six of my new neighbors have taken me under their wing. We share meals and have game nights. My immediate neighbor mows a part of the lawn that is difficult to access. Two neighbors have helped with dog-sitting. Several have also advised me on or assisted with home repairs. They have been like the brothers and sisters that Paul spoke of. I have gladly returned their kindness, and I treasure their friendship.

The sense of fellowship or connection all of God’s children naturally have with one another can never be lost. It endures because we are all created and parented by the same all-loving God. Mary Baker Eddy writes in the Christian Science textbook, “The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother’s need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another’s good” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 518).

Each time we reach out in love and brotherhood to a coworker, neighbor, or family member or graciously accept such loving gestures from others, we are expressing the spirit of Love that Christ Jesus exemplified. This enriches and enlarges not only our own social capital but our community’s as well.

Adapted from an article published on sentinel.christianscience.com, March 6, 2025.