May 2020 : Ready to use music – Lonely

ARTIST: Joel Corry 

SUITABLE FOR: families with children aged ten to 13 

INTRODUCTION 

You may think this song and session would be better suited for the 13-plus age bracket, but the reality is smartphone usage among ten to 13-year-olds is on the rise, with statistics from the US released in November 2019 revealing 53 percent of eleven-year-olds and 69 per cent of twelve-year-olds have their own smartphone. This activity will challenge your family to disconnect their phones and reconnect with one another in a battle against loneliness (see John Mark Comer’s Q&A on p14 for more on this). As you start, put all your mobile phones into a box and set them aside. 

LISTEN AND DISCUSS 

Play the track – you should be able to find the official video on YouTube. After watching, chat about the song, which family members liked it and which didn’t. If your family is keen, you could discuss the following questions: 

•What did you notice about that video? 

•Obviously, it’s a bit exaggerated and tongue-in-cheek, but do you agree with the message it is sharing, or disagree? 

•How do you feel about the lyrics of this song? 

Don’t let your discussion become a moral lesson in ‘don’t spend time on your phone’ (though it’s likely that all members of your family spend too long on their phone, not just your young people!); try to avoid a tone of judgement and encourage an atmosphere of openness with one another. 

Ask what loneliness means to them, reminding them that your family is a place where you can talk about these issues. Explain that as a human race we have never been better connected to one another, thanks to phones and other technology, and yet we have never felt more isolated or lonely. Ask the group why they think this may be. Recent events may have exacerbated everyone’s sense of isolation. 

If you want to expand your time to encompass a faith element, chat about how that the Bible has something to say about our loneliness, firstly to remind us that God is always with us and will never leave our side, but also that we are created to be together with other human beings, living in community. 

What might it mean for your family to be more connected to one another and less connected to technology? Practise this art of being connected by playing games together – either video or board games (see p33 and p43). If your family is happy to do so, you could pray for one another that you would be able to live out this connectivity both as a family and with friends and other relatives, using phones and technology to connect through video calls, messages of support and group chats.