I recently became aware of the term Social Pain in a couple different places: Psychology Today, HealthLine, and in the book, Where Do We Go From Here by David Jeremiah. Neuroscientists in Italy have discovered that “social pain” activates the same brain regions as physical pain. The researchers also found that witnessing the social pain of another person activated a similar physical pain response of empathy in most test subjects. Social pain is the experience of pain as a result of interpersonal rejection or loss, such as rejection from a social group, bullying, or the loss of a loved one.
The COVID 19 pandemic made the problem worse, taking people from the workplace and schools and forcing them to live in isolation. However, Dr. Jeremiah says that the root cause of disconnection is spiritual in nature, and I whole-heartedly agree. When we are disconnected from God, we don't have the love, peace, joy, kindness or patience to show others. He says we become isolated in our self-centeredness.
I find myself thinking about “Social Pain” this disconnection from God and feeling that there is more to it than just the result of losses in/of relationships. I believe this pain for many people, can also be attributed to the God shaped hole or vacuum in the lives of unbelievers, or believers who have fallen away.
Several years ago, while teaching about famous mathematicians in history, I can across Blaise Pascal. I was delighted to learn that this famous mathematician was actually one of the great Christian minds in the 17th century. Referring to the spiritual condition of mankind he famously said, “There is a God–shaped vacuum in the heart of each man, which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.”
King Solomon expressed the same concept in Ecclesiastes 3:11 when he says that God “has put eternity into man’s heart.” Even though His image in us is scarred by sin, within every human soul we have an awareness that there is something more than what this world offers. Because of this awareness, when we are separated from God, our sin-sick, rebellious hearts are desperately running after things to fill the place reserved in our hearts exclusively for God. Many of mans' depraved actions are because of this desperate attempt to fill that place in our hearts that should be, NEEDS to be filled by God.
While Social Pain is definitely due to losses in relationships or lack of relationships, The lack of belief in God, the God Shaped Hole, also contributes greatly to Social Pain. The lack of God in our lives, to me, is the ultimate Social Pain. How completely horrible it is for those living their lives without God. This is another reason to reach out to others and share the Good News of the Gospel, and pray for them.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11
