January
Take My Yoke Upon You: SILENCE & SOLITUDE
One of the questions I have been most often asked as I go around the Connexion this year is, “Do you miss farming?”.
As I answer that there are many things about my life and work on the farm which I miss, I frequently reference the fact that one of the significant losses is having space and time in solitude and silence. That probably reveals more about my personality type than it does about spiritual practices, but on reflection I have realised that a daily rhythm of walks with no company other than cattle and the background noise of nature, was a gift which had potential which I had not fully appreciated at that time.
Henri Nouwen gets right to the point of the value of solitude when he writes,
“Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life.”
Henri J. M Nouwen, Making All Things New.
Solitude is not simply drawing away from others and being alone with God. That’s part of solitude.
But more than that, it is being who we are with God and acknowledging who we are to ourselves and to God.
John Mark Comer writes in his new book, “Practicing the way” of how the four Gospels show us that Jesus lived his life in “a rhythm of retreat and return like breathing in and then out”.
Jesus would retreat: He would slip away from the noise and press of the crowd and find a place where he could pray, alone or sometimes with a few very close friends. He would inhale. Then he would exhale, or return: He would come back to preach and teach and heal and deliver and offer love.
In Mark 1:35, we read,
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
The word which gives us the phrase ‘solitary place’ in this verse can be translated “deserted place,” “lonely place,” or “quiet place.” In Luke 5:16 we encounter the same word again: “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” He often withdrew. Living in the way of Jesus means developing our own rhythm of retreat and return.
Solitude and silence are not the same thing, but they frequently go together.
Silence of the kind which serves as a means of grace rarely happens other than when we are alone.
The practice of silence is not just about being in a quiet place. One of the crucial challenges of an authentic spiritual journey is getting our control structures out of the way and letting God take control. Silence is one of the primary disciplines that help us give up control, even if it is only for a short time.
Robert Mulholland explains that:
“Silence is bringing ourselves to a point of relinquishing to God our control of our relationship with God… Silence is the inner act of letting it go.” –Robert Mulholland, Invitation to a Journey
“The invitation to solitude and silence is just that. It is an invitation to enter more deeply into the intimacy of relationship with the One who waits just outside the noise and busyness of our lives.” – Ruth Haley Barton, Invitation to Silence and Solitude
Resources available below soon.
A prayer for JANUARY:
Loving Father, I intentionally place myself alone in your presence and recognise that you are closer than my own breathing. Help me to stay here long enough that this becomes a formative place where your Spirit has the time and space to do deep work away from others who would watch, judge or interpret what I say. Allow me to wait until I know you are the only one watching me and I can discern between your voice and the voices of the world. Give me courage to notice the things I would rather not notice or feel, and Jesus, lead me on a pilgrimage of deepening responsiveness to your control of my life and being. Loosen my rootedness in the world and plant me by streams of living water. Amen.
COURSES & MORE
Articles
Ruth Haley Barton – https://conversatio.org/beyond-words-an-invitation-to-solitude-and-silence/
Richard Foster – https://renovare.org/articles/understanding-solitude
Video
John Ortberg on Solitude https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUeTkZqYSdg
John Ortberg on Silence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4US-tbixgw0
Dallas Willard – https://conversatio.org/solitude-and-silence/
Podcast & audio
Rule of Life podcast series on Solitude – Episode 1: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ComDyCFalj42g42677DZH?si=b6611a4abf41438a
Dallas Willard - https://conversatio.org/solitude-silence-and-meditation/
Courses on Spiritual Practices
Practicing the Way: A series of free personal and small group resources based around 9 core spiritual practices. These are being released one by one and currently (at Jan 2024) there are resources for 4 practices available: Sabbath; Prayer; Fasting & Solitude. Resources for Scripture are the next to be released (probably in a few months’ time).
All resources can be found here: https://www.practicingtheway.org/
Holy Habits: Small group resources which have been developed based on Andrew Roberts book ‘Holy Habits’. These focus on 10 core spiritual practices or ‘habits’.
https://www.holyhabits.org.uk/
Inside Out: A free small group course from Renovare for discovering a deeper, more transformative life with God
BOOKS
Invitation to Solitude and Silence – Ruth Haley Barton (176 pages) ISBN: 978–0281085781
The Way of the Heart – Henri J Nouwen (96 pages) ISBN: 978–0060663308
Invitation to a Journey – M. Robert Mulholland (224 pages) ISBN: 978-0830846177
The Spirit of the Disciplines – Dallas Willard (276 pages) ISBN: 978-0060694425