As a child of the 50s I grew up when no one locked their doors (neither home nor car) and neighbors rushed to bake bread, cakes, and casseroles to welcome newcomers to the street. My parents reminisced about sitting on the porch after dinner with family and friends as the day ended and I witnessed this practice when we visited my grandparents. In the late 70s I discovered this way of life still existed in rural Illinois where I lived for a short while in “farm country.”

I think I first recognized how drastically lifestyles had changed (as a college and graduate student I had been oblivious to much beyond campus) when a group of church leaders were lamenting no one would accept their invitations to visit the Sunday visitors on Monday night. That caused me to reflect that I did not rush to bake something for a new neighbor any more (when is there time?).

Rushing from home to work to lessons or practices or church to home again while eating on the run challenged how we built relationships. “Me time” became a mantra for many seeking relief from the rat race. Then cocooning began in response to the need for family and home and rest.

As cocooning became common practice, VCR followed by DVD rental businesses flourished (and now Netflix has contributed to their closures) while movie ticket prices soared and sales plummeted. Telephoning gave way to emailing which rapidly took the place of letter writing too. And along came texting. Educators began to lament that students did not know how to write or communicate verbally. More and more we withdrew from direct contact with more than a few friends and family members.

I believe inherent in each of us, introvert and extrovert alike, is the need for companionship and mutually fulfilling human relationships. Despite cocooning, community networking events began to spring up along with church supper clubs and Neighborhood Watch groups. And today diehard Facebook users list networking as what they are seeking and some compete to build their list of friends.

In beginning God created … for the first human he created a companion because It is not good for the man to be alone. Throughout my life I have heard multiple preachers propose that God created humankind for companionship. And while I have a hard time comprehending God having any need I recognize relationships with God and others as a thread woven throughout the Bible.

And where does all this thinking end? Again with the Great Commandment! Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

I affirm that loving both God and my neighbor means spending time with them. I am looking forward to meeting some of my international neighbors next summer on a mission trip to Africa but until then it’s time to break out of the comfort zone of my cocoon to reach across property lines with more than a wave.