What Our Impatience With Social Distancing Says About Our Humanity

There is something special about saying, “I am here for you, and I thank you for being here for me.”

The advent of social media and smartphones and other electronic forms of communication has given the impression that we, as human beings, really don’t need to be physically connected with other people. We can text, or Skype, or FaceTime. We can share our lives through Twitter or Facebook or Instagram. Who cares that we can’t get together? Who cares that we can’t shake hands? Who cares that we need to stay six feet apart?

Well, actually, we all do care. The overwhelming majority of Americans are under mandatory stay-at-home orders. And many of them are already getting cabin fever, despite that we are not even close to being done with social distancing.

We want to get together: with friends and family and colleagues. We want to gather and share physical space with each other. We want to celebrate our religious rituals together. An e-service, which I have conducted as a lay pastor, is just not the same.

There is something very special about touching someone in solidarity.