Our daughter Hannah went to New Zealand on her own, booking a room in a hostel at random, from her flat in Edinburgh.
When she arrived on the other side of the world, she mentioned to one of the girls she was sharing with that she was from the Highlands of Scotland.
The very next morning there was a knock on her door.
Another young woman travelling to New Zealand from Australia that weekend was a girl originally from Embo.
They knew each other from school.
Hannah then travelled around and ended up chatting to a barman in another part of New Zealand who asked where she was from.
She said Scotland but he wanted to know where exactly and in the end they whittled it down to Dornoch.
‘I knew it’, he said, ‘you’re Susan Brown’s daughter.’
Children be warned – there is no escaping your parents.
The barman happened to have worked in Dornoch at a rather posh castle where I occasionally did weddings.
They say only six degrees separates any of us.
In other words, any two people will find that they have someone in common no more than six people away.
That certainly seems to have been the case for Hannah and I suspect many of you reading this column will be able to think of times when, in the most unexpected places, you have discovered someone you know either directly or indirectly.
In this regard, the various means of social media has helped us to build on the contacts we have and to develop even more.
It seems that, as the human race, we have never been so connected.
The only thing is that in many instances that connection is becoming increasingly superficial as people feel the need to post only selected soundbites of their lives which are more about portraying an image than about being real or honest.
I think it’s also true that it is all too common to see people sitting together in a cafe or restaurant – all of them on their mobiles.
No one looking anyone else in the eye.
In our hi-tech, highly connected age, the truth is that more and more people are suffering from loneliness and that loneliness carries a pretty big price tag.
Across every age range, it is leading to people suffering from poorer mental health and it has far-reaching physical consequences too.
The situation is so acute, the adverse impact so great, the Scottish Government has determined that this is one of the aspects of life in Scotland that needs to be addressed.
It has developed a new national strategy in an attempt to tackle loneliness and isolation and is inviting communities to take an active part in looking for ways to reduce loneliness.
I am not sure how much anyone can legislate against loneliness but I do think that we need in Scotland, to revisit what it means to be community and celebrate the strengths that come from recognising that we are all connected to one another and to the world around us.
Something we seem to be in danger of losing sight of.
In days gone by, people in the same street, or stair, or village would have kept an eye on each other.
Nowadays, for all sorts of reasons, we tend to keep ourselves to ourselves and sometimes, sadly, we don’t even know who our neighbours are.
Our communities are those we choose to opt-in to and they can be online rather than physical.
Being part of a faith group, with the emphasis such groups have on building relationships, not simply with God but with God’s people within and beyond the faith community, continues to offer an alternative way of life that counters isolation.
The vast majority of Church of Scotland congregations, the length and breadth of the land, will regularly be hosting lunches, coffee mornings, afternoon teas, as well as all sorts of clubs and organisations in order simply to bring people together.
Some will have cafes and community projects for older people or younger and for those facing particular challenges in life.
The Church has always sought to build community and open its doors to whoever wants or needs the space to be with others, whether those others share their faith perspective or not.
Even if the numbers of a Sunday are not as great as they once were, those who make use of what the Church offers is growing.
But there are others out there too, following suit and holding, for example, monthly teas.
Check out Contact the Elderly who are always looking for hosts and drivers as well as people to drink tea.
Or look up Be More Us who are part of the Campaign to End Loneliness and have drawn up a list of 10 simple ways for us to make connections – from phoning a friend we haven’t spoken to in a while, to making coffee dates, to chatting with a stranger.
To quote an old BT ad: “It’s good to talk.”
So let’s do it more.
Face to face.
Right Rev Susan Brown is moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
