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Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Reflecting on the series

Lynne Baab • Wednesday March 27 2024

Empathy is complicated. People often experience shame when they feel lonely. I am not the only person who defaults to advice-giving when trying to listen carefully. The pandemic left us with “learned loneliness.” Hugs are problematic for some people, so we need to ask permission. These are some of the ideas I have written about in the past six months that readers have resonated with and commented on.

Just over six months ago, I began this series. I was motivated to write about friendship and loneliness because of press coverage of post-covid loneliness. Public health researchers hypothesize that many people lost natural...

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Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Praying for guidance for ending conversations

Lynne Baab • Wednesday March 20 2024

Imagine you’re at a gathering with a lot of people, perhaps coffee hour at church, a wedding reception, or an office party. You’ve chatted with several people, and you are now feeling tired and ready to go home. You look for the person you came with, and they’re in a conversation. You move toward them to check to see if they’re ready to leave.

A few steps before you get there, you are intercepted by someone who enjoys lengthy conversations. In the past, you have tried to listen lovingly and supportively to them. Still, you often find the one-sided conversations challenging. You’re...

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Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Everyday initiative

Lynne Baab • Tuesday March 12 2024

Two months ago, I wrote a blog post called “Everyday Initiative,” but I just couldn’t bring myself to put it on this blog. Last week, I wrote a different post focused on the same topic. I spent all weekend thinking I should write something else. Last night, I figured out why those posts bothered me so much. I don’t want to burden people for whom initiative is difficult.

In interviews about friendship, many people have talked with me about the challenge of initiative for them. They want to initiate more. Their lack of initiative has negative consequences for them—loneliness and feelings of...

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Friendship, loneliness, and prayer: Praying to keep empathy flowing

Lynne Baab • Wednesday March 6 2024

Do you care about what other people are feeling? If your answer is yes, most of the time, then you have already overcome the biggest obstacle to empathy. The most common empathy block is simply not caring about what the other person feels or experiences. I’m assuming most of the readers of this blog try to care. Sometimes, especially with challenging people, we might need to pray for a caring heart. Sometimes, especially when we are stressed or tired, we may need to pray for a big infusion of love from the Holy Spirit. However, I sense from the feedback to...

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