One of the more interesting stories I read this week wasn’t about politics or AI or the Middle East or the latest social media outrage cycle.

It was about young people going to church.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal piece, churches in New York City are suddenly seeing a surge of Gen Z attendance. Not out of obligation. Not because their parents dragged them there. Because they’re looking for something.

Community. Stability. Meaning. Actual human interaction. One church even created a “Pizza to Pews” gathering before Sunday Mass to accommodate the crowds.

For all our talk about hyperconnectivity, it turns out people are still hungry for belonging. Maybe starving for it. Or at least looking for a good slice.

That story stayed with me while sitting in a jacuzzi at my local health club this week. It’s one of those places that hums all day. People coming and going, classes cycling through, the quiet choreography of modern routine.

After a swim, I’ve gotten into the habit of sitting in the jacuzzi for ten minutes. Nothing special. Just a small ritual before heading to the showers. It’s a fairly intimate space. Half a dozen people, maybe. Close enough that, not long ago, it would have been impossible not to acknowledge each other. A nod. A comment about the water. Something.

But every time I sit there, it’s the same scene. Silence. Not the relaxed, companionable kind. Something different than that. More detached. Most people are staring at their phones. Watching videos. Scrolling. Headphones in, or not—it doesn’t really matter. Everyone is somewhere else.

Six people, sitting shoulder to shoulder in a pool of hot water, and not a single word exchanged. Ten years ago, this would have felt strange. Maybe even rude. Now it barely registers.

Nothing happened. No rule changed. No one decided this is how it should be. But something shifted.

We can tell ourselves a simple story about moments like this. That comfort and technology have made us passive. Distracted. Increasingly detached from the people around us and more absorbed in our digital worlds. Like we are becoming characters from the Wall-E movie.

There’s some truth in that. But it still feels incomplete. Because this isn’t just........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)