Solitude

Solitude is so difficult in a world of noise and distraction. It challenges us at almost every level of our life. It can produce the feeling that we are being unproductive if we are not giving effort toward some project. It can lead to a sense of selfishness if we are not spending time with significant others. The seeming cost to human relationships in spending time alone and not with significant others. There is the possibility that inner dynamics that we have long suppressed may surge up, having been kept buried by keeping our lives noisy.

Dare we move into uncharted territory and create the willingness to pay attention to the stirrings deep in the soul? Would we even be aware of hearing our own voice speaking into places that were dying to surface… places where the presence of God makes itself known beyond words?

The soul needs a megaphone with which to announce its presence and its need for attention.

There are moments when we need to quiet the noise in our life, cease emotional and rational effort, and pull away from human relationships for a time in order to give God our full attention. Silence allows the demands of life and the clamour of our own thoughts and compulsions to settle in a place where God can reorder and quiet the static and speak with his Voice. In these moments we create space for God to fill every minute with his priorities and presence.   

What are we “accomplishing”? Nothing really. It is not about success or failure. It is not about ends but instead the means through which we regularly make ourselves available to God.

Richard Foster writes, 

Is there a sacred space, set apart for God and him alone? Is there a quiet chair at home that is set apart, a walk in the woods, or an early morning space in our place of work? What will we hear, and how will God’s Voice be manifest? 

Another journey into the quiet begins.