荷莉．庫克（Holly Cooke）因工作而移居倫敦，在那裡她連一個朋友也沒有，每到週末就覺得淒涼冷清。根據一項全球性調查顯示，倫敦是最容易感到孤獨的城市，有55%的倫敦居民說他們感到孤獨，相形之下，鄰近的葡萄牙里斯本只有10%的居民有孤寂感。

為了與人建立關係，荷莉克服了恐懼，在網路上創立名為「倫敦孤獨女孩俱樂部」的社團，至今約有3萬5千人加入。她們每隔幾週就會舉辦小型聚會，例如公園野餐、藝術課程、珠寶工作坊、餐會，甚至還有帶愛犬一起參加的戶外運動課程。

從古至今人們都會感到孤獨，我們的上帝也自亙古便撫平人們的孤寂感。大衛寫道，我們永恆的上帝「叫孤獨的有家，使被囚的出來享福」（詩篇68篇6節）。我們有一項屬天的特權，就是可以求上帝帶領我們找到像基督一樣的朋友，因此我們可以放膽地向祂祈求。大衛說：「上帝在祂的聖所作孤兒的父，作寡婦的伸冤者」（5節）；「天天背負我們重擔的主，就是拯救我們的上帝，是應當稱頌的」（19節）。

耶穌是我們最好的朋友！祂會賜給我們知己好友，而祂本身也會每時每刻與我們同在，正如荷莉說：「與朋友相聚能滋養心靈。」

Holly Cooke didn’t have one single friend when she moved to London for a job. Her weekends felt miserable. The city itself tops the list for feeling blue—with 55 percent of Londoners saying they’re lonely, according to a global survey, compared to just 10 percent of residents in neighborly Lisbon, Portugal.

For connection, Holly defied her fears and formed a social media group called The London Lonely Girls Club—and some thirty-five thousand have joined. Small-group meetups every few weeks offer park picnics, art lessons, jewelry workshops, dinners, and even outdoor exercise sessions with puppies.

The challenge of loneliness isn’t new, nor is the Healer of our feelings of isolation. Our eternal God, wrote David, “sets the lonely in families; he leads out the prisoners with singing” (Psalm 68:6). Asking God to point our way to Christlike friends is a holy privilege and, thus, a request we can freely take to Him. “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling” (v. 5), added David. “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens” (v. 19).

What a friend we have in Jesus! He grants us forever friends, starting with the glorious presence of Himself every moment. As Holly says, “Friend time is good for the soul.”