Creating Spaces for Solitude

Create spaces for solitude.

There have been these deafening voices in my head lately (isn't that the way to start out a post?).

Have I mentioned how loud they are?  The voices come from television, movies, music, Facebook, emails, books, magazines, blogs, seminary discussions and papers, work expectations, people's opinions, family, friends, text messages, billboards, radio, ministry partners, and we could sit here and continue this list much longer if we wanted…  Help, they're so loud!  These voices aren't always external either.  Sometimes, they can come from my hands and sometimes from my head - doing and thinking.

It seems there are millions of voices attempting to define reality.  Each one has a different angle, agenda, or approach.  Some of them are incredibly good voices to listen to and some of them are simply time consuming.  But sometimes, when these voices become so deafening, nothing else is able to be heard.

I've always thought it was interesting that each Gospels account (in the Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) give significant attention to Jesus' habit of "often going to lonely places."  And even more, in the Gospel of Mark, which is by far the shortest account of Jesus' story, there are at least sixteen times where this idea is found.  It seems that the idea of solitude or "going away to lonely places" is one that deserves our attention.

When writing on the topic of solitude, Anne Lindbergh said, "We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationship.  We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror of its ebb."

Also writing on solitude, Thomas Kempis said, "In quiet and silence the faithful soul makes progress, the hidden meanings of the Scriptures become clear…as one learns to grow still, he draws closer to the Creator and farther from the hurly-burly of the world.  The person who wants to arrive at spirituality has to leave the crowd behind and spend some time with their Creator."

The busyness of life can often creep in and take these moments of stillness away if you aren't careful.  When the flows of life are so plentiful, when the tide is continually in and there's so many "things" to do, it's incredibly easy to see success and accomplishment more virtuous than solitude and stillness.  When the voices become so plentiful, how do you know which ones to listen to?  When the flows take over, you might want to ask yourself which voices you're allowing to define your reality.  Life needs the flows, but it ALSO needs the ebbs.  Life needs moments of solitude, silence, stillness, where you can be at peace with yourself and God.  Life needs The Voice to define reality in the moments of solitude.

Stopping and sitting in solitude allows my heart to hear.  It's harder to hear with my heart than it is my head or hands.  Sometimes, the blaring voices of my head and hands drowned out any chance of ever hearing with my heart.  I need solitude, silence, and stillness - to listen with my heart and allow God to define my reality.  I trust that!  I have faith in that!  I somehow place my hope there!  It's that voice I'll listen to.  Among all the other voices, I'll be attentive to that one.

When my heart is healthy, I'll have a healthy head and healthy hands.  When my heart is made healthy in the ebbs of low tide, the flows of high tide will be that much better.

So this week, I've been intentional about stopping in the middle of my work, and going for a walk to connect with the Voice that that I hear best when everything else is shut up.  Somebody recently told me that I could do the same sort of thing through a 14 second prayer; I disagree.  Being intentional about this requires time and sacrifice.  It requires me to clearly recognize stillness and solitude as virtuous.

It's been beautiful.  It's been rejuvenating.  It's been all that I could ask for, and more.  And little by little, I see why Jesus did what He did when the flows of life never ceased and the voices became too loud.  He intentionally sought solitude, stillness, and silence.

There's something there…something about that...something special…

We need the ebbs and flows.