3 . The Way of Solitude
“Our ability to be silent with someone is largely contingent on our level of intimacy or familiarity with that person.”
Rich Villodas
READ
Luke 5:1-16
Luke chapter five verses one to sixteen
CONSIDER
Consider the contrasts in the passage between what Jesus is like and how he responds to the events taking place and how the crowds or disicples respond.
Where does his ability to respond like this come from?
LIVE
Set aside time (as in get out your diary this very moment) to begin establishing intentional times for solitude and silence. Start small, perhaps 5mins and slowly increase over time.
See page 55 for a prayer to be used in quiet prayer
The Way of Solitude
Jesus would withdraw to desolate places not because he couldn’t stand people, or because he really needed some ‘me’ time. Rather we’re told that when Jesus went away to the eremos (the greek word for ‘desolate’) it was because of his desire to pray. He went away from others to intentionally draw near to the Father.
As his fame and reputation increased Jesus’ head wasn’t turned by the crowds and their adulation. Jesus knew all too well that a crowd can love you today and try to throw you off a cliff (or crucify you!) tomorrow. When the crowds increase and when the demands on him from others increase, rather than working harder and spending more time with more people – Jesus hides from people, and seeks out time alone with God. The Way of Solitude isn’t about developing techniques for effective meditation, it’s about developing a deeper relationship with God.
Jesus’ example offers an invitation to us as well. He invites you and me to join him in the eremos, by ourselves, without distraction for soul to soul and heart to heart time with him. Will we go with him there?
We’re living through a period of time that some have called ‘the Great Acceleration’. It’s a time where we’re pushing our limitations to edge, never switching off, barely resting for long and rarely going without distractions. Johann Hari in his book ‘Stolen Focus’ quotes research that suggests our hyper distracted world is reducing our memory, making us less creative, causing us to make costly mistakes and bringing about a reduction in IQ levels!
We’re living through a period of time that some have called ‘the Great Acceleration’. It’s a time where we’re pushing our limitations to edge, never switching off, barely resting for long and rarely going without distractions. Johann Hari in his book ‘Stolen Focus’ quotes research that suggests our hyper distracted world is reducing our memory, making us less creative, causing us to make costly mistakes and bringing about a reduction in IQ levels!
How to
Be Alone With God
Ronald Rolheiser calls prayer ‘relaxing into the goodness of God.’ As you enter a time of silent or solitudinal prayer, first settle into a comfortable position or if you’re out walking first engage with and listen to how your body is feeling. Author Ruth Haley Barton advises: Begin by settling into a comfortable position in your body and sitting quietly for a few moments, breathing deeply. Become aware of God’s presence with you and your desire to be present with God.
The first task of this kind of prayer is to calm ourselves down in God’s presence, become aware of our surroundings and our internal longing for God.
Detach yourself from your attachments to fleeting or impulsive thoughts and reactions. We’re not retreating from reality or from desire, but we’re instead detaching ourselves from being drowned by the things and desires that are only of surface level importance to us.
When we bring ourselves into a place of prayer it’s because there is a deeper reality and a deeper desire that we want to engage with besides the immediate and urgent going on around us.
Learn to reframe distractions from being bad things to good things. Every time you’re distracted you’re given a fresh opportunity to return to God. If you’re distracted 1,000 times in an hour, you’re given 1,000 opportunities to return to him in prayer!
Someone once said: the heart of prayer is us looking at God, looking at us. We focus our minds eye on the One revealed in his Son, revealed in the word and revealed in the world. As you do, allow him to stare back at you and delight in you.
In his letter to the Philippians the apostle Paul writes: whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Contemplative prayer doesn’t involve emptying your mind, rather it involves filling it only with the things you want to look into.
Try: Imagine a net over your mind that allows everything to float away except those things that relate to God and the object of your prayer.
Dallas Willard once wrote that the primary posture of a disciple is that of sitting at Jesus’ feet. As you sit in his company and look at him with the eyes of your heart and mind, listen out for the still small voice of the Spirit.
The ancient Jewish prayer the Shema begins: “Hear O Israel.“
Hear. Listen.
Trust that God can and will speak to you, and trust that he knows how to speak to you in such a way that you’ll be able to understand him speaking. Allow the images and ideas in your mind to come in and expect that he can and will speak to you through those things.
Don’t strive or strain to hear; simply sit, wait and listen.