Each week in Faith Along the Way, Dr. Carl Grosse shares a message to encourage, challenge and inspire readers as they navigate the joys and struggles of everyday life. This week, Dr. Carl reflects on our digital world.

Do you ever feel lonely in this wired world? Not that long ago, there were no mobile phones or internet. Yet somehow people managed to stay connected. As a young preacher, I’d visit old farmers who barely used the telephone, and I’d always leave with more knowledge about what was going on in the community. How did they do it?

The banking industry has something called KYA, or Know Your Accounts. Banks don’t want risky money that might be laundered or used for bad purposes. They also want to know customer needs, which might be helped through targeted products or services. If you don’t KYA, you miss opportunities and leave yourself vulnerable to trouble.

There’s a reason Jesus included Leviticus 19:18 (“You shall love your neighbor as yourself”) as part of the Greatest Commandment. Societies benefit when people make the effort to KYN, or Know Your Neighbor. In former days, people realized interdependence was necessary for survival and took steps to make connections and communicate. New neighbors visited or were visited by those living next door. More relationship cultivation happened at community events or through normal business dealings, often aided by local papers, which provided common news about civic, school, business, and social happenings. As technology evolved, devices like phones became efficient tools in the same process of KYN.

Nowadays, maybe physical survival is less a reason for knowing your neighbor; yet, could it be that KYN is inextricably linked to our individual and community well-being?

Here’s a test: if you were on vacation and wanted to get a just-delivered package inside your house, would you contact someone from the nearest 3 homes or someone miles away?

For me, I’d use technology like my smart doorbell to know about the package, my mobile phone to contact my neighbors and find out which one was available, and my smart lock to let them in the house. Soon, the package would be safe inside, I’d thank my neighbor with a gift when I returned, and we’d both feel blessed, all because we got to know each other long before that package arrived.

Thousands of years ago, the writer of Proverbs 27:10 said, “Better is a neighbor that is near than a brother that is far off.”  I’m glad for the old-timers who showed me it’s not the tools as much as the task of being a good neighbor that’s really cool.

Dr. Carl Grosse is an ordained pastor and the author of Faith Along the Way, a weekly reflection for KnoxTNToday that encourages readers to discover God’s presence in everyday life and share His love with others.

Follow KnoxTNToday on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn. Get all KnoxTNToday articles in one place with our free newsletter. Comments may be sent to news@knoxtntoday.com.