Solitude

Solitude

This has been a great week for solitude.  But why do I hesitate?  Why does it seem hard to get there?  It think it is for the very reason I need it - my life too easily can revolve around the half-baked, half-satisfying, half-truth that “I am what I produce.”  Busyness replaces Being.  

I have found that these experiences of Solitude ground me in a way that nothing else can.  There is a rhythm to life that the “quiet-down experience” starts to drum...it calls to me, this life of “nothing,” which connects me to something that I can’t quite name.  I am reminded that I am not in charge of the Universe, and that my action - though when it flows out of fulness is blessed - is not the Prime Mover;  my ideas of control, and hiding, are challenged.  I am forced to look outside of myself for help, and for Identity. 

As a regular practice, it helps me remember.  It helps me “number my days,” to quote a famous Psalmist (Moses.)  This Exercise helps me know who I am, and points me to God.

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If you find me today, you will find me...running!  And if you note the time of this post, you will understand that I have been...running!  Solitude this week has been great - it has grounded me in ways that I am not grounded otherwise.   Here are some thoughts from a past post that relate to the present experience of Solitude.

Distracting.  Discouraging us (why can't I even focus on my Bible, get my devotions "done?")  Accusing us.

What if we looked at these "distractions" in a different way?  What if instead of being competitors with God as we enter our devotional time, these are actually the very things that He wants to talk with us about?  He is drawn to what is going on inside of us - He likes you,  and wants to hear about what is happening in your life.  Why don't we pray our distractions, and make them attractions?

These distractions can attract God's presence, and bring Him into the mix of our worlds.  Sometimes I need to list out these things that are on my mind, and pray over them a bit, before I can really focus on my devotional time or a Bible reading.  Sometimes these become the thing that my devotional time is about.  Something on the list gets "highlighted."  Here is an area where I need some help.  Here is where Reality (big "R") is seeking to alter my version of reality (little "r.")

Thanks for pressing into this stuff!