Faithful Friends!
The power of friendship
by Claire Law
Suitable for Whole School (Sec)
Aims
To identify that being alone for extended periods is detrimental for physical and mental health, and to consider next steps around finding and fostering faithful friendships.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides accompanying this assembly (Faithful Friends!) and the means to display them.
- You will need the YouTube clip ‘Alone (UK)- 2023 -Channel 4 Reality Series Trailer’ and the means to show this during the assembly. This can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvfH7DbqahU
Assembly
- Show Slide 1. Welcome the students.
- Ask the question: Have any of you seen the TV show, Alone?
Explain that it is a Reality Show in which participants are dropped in a wilderness location to survive, alone, for as long as possible. Apart from occasional medical check-ins, the participants are isolated from each other and all other humans.
Show the YouTube clip ‘Alone (UK)- 2023 -Channel 4 Reality Series Trailer’. This can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvfH7DbqahU - In the show, some participants last just a few days, and only a few each season make it past the 50-day mark. It’s not easy to survive alone!
- Show Slide 2.
Perhaps we’ve heard the motto, ‘no-one is an island’. It comes from a line written by the Poet John Donne, a contemporary of William Shakespeare, in 1624. Donne wrote: ‘no man is an island’. This line is a reminder of the importance of human connection and a warning against the effect of loneliness and isolation. For most people it is not good to be alone for too long. - Show Slide 3.
There is now a large body of research showing that social isolation and loneliness have a serious impact on physical and mental health and on quality of life. Being lonely, can shorten our life at a similar rate to being a smoker, being overweight, or being physically inactive. It’s not good to be alone for too long. - Show Slide 4.
Perhaps this group of friends, deep down, knew this a long time ago. They’ve been meeting up almost every week for 56 years. The group met when they were studying in Sheffield. Since then, they have met together each Thursday, to catch up, chat and share a drink together. Now in their 80’s, with 17 children, 33 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren between them, these friends continue to meet and enjoy each other’s company, reaping the mental health and physical health benefits that come with social connection and faithful friendship.
Time for reflection
In some ways, modern research on the importance of social connection and friendship parallels religious teachings that are centuries old. Friendship is something celebrated and valued across religious traditions. Let’s consider a couple of different traditions.
In Islam, friendship is valued. In a saying attributed to the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad said: ‘Shall I tell you a degree better than prayer, fasting and charity… improving a state of friendship’. In other words, working on friendships and investing in our relationships with our friends is seen as a valuable action in Islam.
Show Slide 5.
In the Christian tradition, the Book of Ecclesiastes has a number of reminders about the value and importance of faithful friendship. In a passage in Ecclesiastes 6:14-16, we read: ‘Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter; whoever finds one has found a treasure. Faithful friends are beyond price; no amount can balance their worth. Faithful friends are life-saving medicine’.
Show Slide 6.
Christians are also reminded that being connected with faithful friends is better than going alone in life through another passage that is found in the Bible. In the book of Ecclesiastes, we read: ‘Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble’.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Let’s take a moment now to consider to what extent we are friends to other people, and how connected we feel with friends.
Whatever our response to these questions might be, it’s always possible to make choices that support in finding and being good friends.
There are steps and actions we can take today towards fostering faithful friendships in our lives. Maybe we could leave this assembly, having made a choice about one thing we can do today to foster friendship.
Let’s consider some ideas:
Show Slide 7.
To foster faithful friendship, we could:
- Spend time with a friend without looking at our phone for 30 mins.
- Communicate openly and share your thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
- Be a good listener and show interest in what others think, feel and want.
- Be kind - kindness helps create trust and meaningful social connections.
- Say yes to group activities such as group sports or extra-curricular clubs.
- Chat to someone you’ve never spoken to before – they may be a friend waiting to be made.
Encourage the students to think about their own ideas and actions that might foster friendship. Encourage them to make a commitment to doing something that will enhance their friendships today.
Pause to allow time for reflection.
Make the students aware of any pastoral support available in school for those students who are struggling to make friends and who feel lonely and isolated. Encourage them to speak to someone today.
Prayer
Dear Lord,
Friends can be a huge help in life.
Being constantly alone is not good for us, but having friends and connection with friends is a way we can take care of ourselves.
Today, help us not to take friendship for granted.
Help us to be good friends, and to take steps that support us in making friends.
We pray, too, for anyone who feels lonely or isolated.
Help us to be people who seek to support others in need.
Please help us to never turn our backs on someone who needs a friend.
Amen.
Music
‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’ from Toy Story. This can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNZUKm0ApEM
