Loneliness

Is choosing to be alone the "safe" option?

The show "Apartment Therapy" explores.

But there's a strange quirk - almost all people live alone: and they see this as the "self-crafted" pinnacle of their lives.

More people are alone now than ever before. One-seventh of all Americans live by themselves. The UK has similar numbers.

This is a global Western phenomenon though - a more accurate read is Westerners prefer to live alone more.

This runs parallel with an increasingly fractured society in the global West: many have traded their real communities for their online ones.

Society has to be built on a network - including ones that we disagree with.

Even Christians are now struggling to sit in fellowship with one another, with social circles built upon sectarian lines.

The late great pastor and author Tim Keller was aware of this: his final words in writing were in a book called Forgive: Why Should I, and How Can I?

He saw the urgent need for our culture to embrace forgiveness, community, and a sense of being together.

Christians have the tools to demonstrate true community to our world: true trust, and true relationship.

It's these qualities that the world needs now, more than ever.