“Jesus, of course, was well aware His presence and words were in demand. That is precisely why He traded an hour or two of sleep for time alone. For Jesus, solitude and quiet, reflection and prayer, were lifeblood . . . “As Dallas Willard observed, these times of chosen solitude, deprived of noise and activity […]
Still Saturday: Solitude of Heart
When we live with a solitude of heart, we can listen with attention to the words and the worlds of others, but when we are driven by loneliness, we tend to select just those remarks and events that bring immediate satisfaction to our own craving needs. ~Henri Nouwen in Reaching Out: The Three Movements of […]
Still Saturday: Segments of Solitude
Henri Nouwen called solitude . . . “the furnace of transformation.” This doesn’t refer to mere personal privacy for a twelve-second pit stop where we get a quick fix to reenter the race. It’s more than that. It’s an oasis of the soul where we see ourselves, others, and especially our God in new […]
Still Saturday: All Shaken Up
And we did do some talking, but eventually this wise woman said to me, “Ruth, you are like a jar of river water all shaken up. What you need is to sit still long enough that the sediment can settle and the water can become clear.” ~Ruth Haley Barton in Invitation to Solitude and Silence Welcome […]
Still Saturday: Here I Am, Father
A still morning Because I am loved and I love, I don’t have to worry about my response or lack of it. I don’t have to struggle with my desire to understand. I don’t have to wrestle with my feeling of unworthiness. All I have to do is be still, stay close and let you […]
Still Saturday: Uncrowd My Heart
“Uncrowd my heart, O God, until silence speaks in your still, small voice; turn me from the hearing of words, and the making of words, and the confusion of much speaking, to listening, waiting, stillness, silence.” ~Esther DeWaal “Listen to the silence, let it enfold you, like a piece of music, like bird-watching.” ~Esther […]
Still Saturday: Alone with the Alone
Silence is not simply the absence of noise or the shutdown of communication with the outside world, but rather a process of coming to stillness. Silent solitude forges true speech. I’m not speaking of physical isolation; solitude here means being alone with the Alone, experiencing the transcendent Other and growing in awareness of one’s […]
Sunday Seasoned Sayings: The Merton Prayer
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. […]
