Even though we all need the company of other persons, there are times we need to be alone. In fact, entering the “desert of our loneliness,” as Henri Nouwen put it, is critical to our development as spiritual beings. This doesn’t mean that we ignore the realities of life, but rather find a deeper meaning for ourselves in those realities.
Entering that desert is part of learning how to engage our faith, turning it into what Nouwen called a “garden of solitude,” so that we can take our restlessness and find ways to develop an inner calm. It’s especially important in this day of the 24-hour news cycle which never seems to give us a break.
We jump from one thing to another almost as quickly as the new story of the minute is announced, whether it be on the radio, television, or even the computer. The events of the world overtake us and we struggle for inner calm. This doesn’t mean ignoring the world but finding a new way to engage with it.
Prayer for the Day
Seeking your Presence, in the darkness of the early morning,
We struggle to find the calm we so desperately need;
Searching for your Spirit, in the brightness of the noon day,
We feel tossed about by overwhelming waves of uncertainty.
Hold us fast, O God, so we find ourselves in you,
Enabling us to center our lives even within this world.
In the name of the One who centered his life in you,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
[The] solitude that really counts is a solitude of the heart; it is an inner quality or attitude that does not depend on physical isolation. …A man or woman who has developed this solitude of heart is no longer pulled apart by divergent stimuli of the surrounding world, but is able to understand and perceive this world from a quiet inner center.
- Henri Nouwen, teacher, theologian (1932-1996)
How can you hear your soul if everyone is talking?
- Mary Doria Russell, American novelist, from Children of God
But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.
Luke 5: 15-16