Friendship is life-saving -- literally!
Sometimes friendship feels like an everyday thing, but it really is life-saving. Having close friends actually makes people live longer, healthier lives. Not having good friends shortens a person's life the same as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day. Worldwide, loneliness kills 100 people every hour!
But even though friendship has such an impact on our lives, half of Americans report measurable levels of loneliness. According to surveys, the number one reason for this "loneliness epidemic" are changes in technology that sometimes replace face-to-face interactions. In fact, among 15-24 year olds -- the most digital generation -- people are getting 70% less social interaction than previous generations.
CHALLENGE
Here are some practical ways you can celebrate the life-saving power of friendship:
- Make regular time in your schedule to share what's going on in your life with a friend or two.
- Set calendar reminders each month to link up and hang out.
- Encourage your church leadership to invest in a church retreat and keep open time in the schedule for connecting.
- Volunteer with a friend on a service project.
- Sign up your child or teen for Summer Camp to lay a foundation of friendship.
Camp has always been blessed with many friendships -- many of which built peace cross-culturally. Read Cross-Cultural Appreciation about how Camp impacted staff and Board Member Maynard Shirk's life and Camp Deerpark and I recounting the many transformative relationships of former Director and Board Member Marian Sauder Egli. Both of these stories are reprinted from Forever God is Faithful celebrating Camp's 50th Anniversary in 2019.
Friendship IS Peacebuilding
Friendship is a light that holds evil and suffering at bay. Did you know that friends are the single greatest factor in preventing young people from becoming radicalized into terrorism? Likewise, creating a friendship-based "culture of care" that does not allow social isolation -- especially of transfer students -- is the best prevention of school shootings. The same is true of pretty much all violence: friendship can prevent gun violence among young adults and can also prevent domestic violence in support of both victims and abusers.
Peace requires friendship. It's really the only way a divided world and society like ours can create a stable thriving future. You might have guessed that even though less than 10% of Americans have friends from the opposing political party, these bipartisan friendships are critical in ending partisanship that threatens business investment, economic stability and mutually beneficial infrastructure. This makes friendship, especially with those who are different from us, an essential task for the sake of our families, neighborhoods, and nation.
Will you be a champion of friendship at Camp?
Experts agree: one of the best things we can do to promote friendship and all the benefits it creates is to support places where people can build relationships -- places like Camp!
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