I honestly believe that despite all the distractions out there, people have never been more lonely than they are at present. Not only do people often live in isolation from their family and neighbours, but they are can also be proud and struggle to ask for and accept help. This particular generation of the elderly have been through wars and strife. To ask for someone to pick up a loaf of bread or drop in for a chat is sometimes a bridge too far.

Recently, I had an email from our church asking if I would think of being a ‘befriender’ to those who are lonely and need a cuppa and a chat and pray once a week. Not much to ask is it? An hour or two of my time might mean that that person feels valued, accepted, part of life, important, secure and included. Two hours could mean the difference between wanting to live… Or the alternative.

A few years ago my parents were horrified when a tragedy occurred in their little lane in Kent. An elderly couple who lived there died of total neglect. The wider community were so upset. They had not known the couple in question, and, in fact, did not even realise that there was a house in that part of the lane behind the trees. It made my Mum and Dad urgently seek out their neighbours and make it their business to be welcoming and friendly.

How are you with your neighbours? Do they know your name? Do you know theirs? Do you know whether they have had a good Christmas? Do you know if they like brown or white bread? Have you ever thought about what they might need today?

A few winters ago in Stockholm, an eighty-four-year-old woman sat for two WHOLE months on her balcony before a neighbour discovered she was dead. The woman was found sitting in a chair, dressed in a coat and hat, her forehead leaning against the railing.

A neighbour realised something was wrong when she saw the woman sitting on her balcony around the clock, despite freezing temperatures. “I accused myself for not having seen her earlier,” she said later. “I hope this dreadful story makes us better at keeping in touch with our old neighbours.”

Isolationism is not a Scandinavian phenomenon of course; it is a human tragedy. For fear of poking our nose into someone else’s business or getting involved in something that could backfire on us, we have trained ourselves not to stop, look, or listen.

Perhaps in this day and age and in this coming new year, we need to be outward-looking and deliberate in how we reach out to those around us. After all, the people God put you near is not in any way random or accidental. It is totally purposeful on the part of heaven.

What are you going to do about your neighbours today?