Aren't we lucky?

According to a recent study, Americans face much more isolation than they did two decades ago. This study also said 25 percent of the respondents had no one with whom they could confide and overall, respondents said their confidants dropped from three to two.

We really are lucky, aren't we? Yesterday a new friend called who has about the same amount of time as me, and we talked for an hour about big challenges in her life. The great part? If I need to, I can call her tomorrow and talk about my challenges.

In college I took a class in comparative communism. One of the first things communism attempts to do, according to my professor, is to break down "horizontal linkages." Those are our friends, our families, our affiliations with churches or synagogues--our ties to each other that spread throughout society and keep us unified, at least at some level.

Breaking down horizontal linkages is accomplished by breeding fear and suspicion between people by rewarding those who inform (sound familiar?) and instilling fear: "trust no one," then people are forced to look vertically, to the State, to provide their needs. In today's society, if we need food rather than turning to our neighbors, we turn to social programs like food stamps. The more we depend on the State to meet our needs, the less need we have to ask for or give help to others. Are we becoming too dependent on the State?

After Katrina, Americans poured money into various charities, yet the Federal government was blasted for not protecting the citizenry against what was a foreseeable disaster. I don't know the answer to these big issues, but the future doesn't look to rosy to me. There's a Leonard Cohen song I really like and in it he says "I've seen the future--it is murder."

But I digress. What I was thinking when I read about that study was how blessed I am to have found the Fellowship. It taught me how to be a friend, so I can say today I have many good friends, confidants, throughout the country who, when I'm feeling disconnected, I know I can rely on to talk to. And that is pretty good news.