In spite of mass communication and travel, our modern world is filled with too many people who are leading lonely lives. True, our towns and cities are getting more and more crowded, and these lonely ones are always moving among the crowds. But you can be desperately lonely in a crowd. What most of us need, in order to feel that we are living a full life; is to feel a definite relation between ourselves and those with whom we rub shoulders. This is especially true for those of us who are brethren in Christ. We are hearing much talk and seeing evidence of too much suspiciousness among us. Suspicious of what? What is it all about? Can anyone really answer these questions?

Over the past couple of months I have logged over 4500 miles, visiting with brethren in their homes and worshiping with them in assemblies of the saints. From the Great Lakes of the North to the Gulf Coast, and from the Midwest to the East Coast, it is the same. Too many of our brethren are expressing their concern over the fact that closeness does not exist as in days gone by. I know that affluence is evident, our new homes with their labor-saving devices, new cars, the latest styles in clothing, all give off at first sight the appearance of a fuller, richer life, certainly richer than that of our grandparents. There is more leisure, more entertainment, more movies, bigger and better T.V., but unfortunately these cannot restore the lost sense of being. I fear that materialism is taking its toll among us and that the real reason we feel that we really do not belong, as our grandparents did, is because we are conforming instead of being transformed (Rom. 12:1-3). We not only are competing with the world, but with our own brethren! For what? In spite of all that we have we are finding less satisfaction. We know that we are missing something. We hope this something can be regained. It can.

Fortunately, the printed page is still with us. Sensible brethren are still readers! The printed word brings to them a participation in the problems, the joys and triumphs of our brethren, wherever they are, in the North, the South, the Mid-West, England or Africa. One reason for the loss of which we speak is that some have stopped reading. Those who are reading have gained. They are becoming more and more informed. They know that the hottest thing among the liberals right now is the "Crossroads Philosophy," when they see or hear the word "Ebla," they know we are not talking about some hurricane, they know because they are reading Journals published by brethren. The task of keeping us informed belongs to "our" journals. Among such periodicals is my old friend, Truth Magazine. We who write for it do not ask that you believe our writings, only that you give them consideration by comparing them with Bible teaching and facts! The readers of Truth Magazine can never be desperately lonely.

Truth Magazine XXIV: 30, p. 491
July 31, 1980