Over sabbatical, I pondered the fact that if we spent our lives in absolute solitude listening to Jesus, we could never take in all the richness of His wisdom and presence. Just as it has been penned that all that which Jesus did on earth has not all been written down, we could not comprehend all that could be heard, while quietly listening to His voice. On the other hand, I have been reminded that the dessert fathers who spent time in solitude, listening to God, began to lose their senses and had difficulty in discerning the voices they heard. The healthy balance is to live our lives carefully taking time both for solitude with Him, and living in community, constantly aware of His presence, and in prayer with Him and for each other as we serve together to build His kingdom and not our own. We are loved individually and we are blessed with belonging in His precious family of freedom because of His love. THAT is better than any kingdom we could fabricate ourselves!
solitude
Don’t Over Analyze Yourself
A good reminder for me as I seek to transition healthily into my sabbatical…
It’s all about my focus…
“Know yourself” is good advice. But to know ourselves doesn’t mean to analyze ourselves. Sometimes we want to know ourselves as if we were machines that could be taken apart and put back together at will. At certain critical times in our lives it might be helpful to explore in some detail the events that led us to our crises, but we make a mistake when we think that we can ever completely understand ourselves and explain the full meaning of our lives to others.
Solitude, silence, and prayer are often the best ways to self-knowledge. Not because they offer solutions for the complexity of our lives but because they bring us in touch with our sacred center, where God dwells. That sacred center may not be analyzed. It is the place of adoration, thanksgiving, and praise.
– Henri Nouwen, from “Bread for the Journey”
A good thought…
Solitude, silence, and prayer…
Don’t over analyze yourself, but rather…
Abide with Him…
Adoration, thanksgiving, and praise…!!
“Less of me, more of you Jesus!”
Yes, there’s great benefit for receiving counseling in helping us learn life skills, healthy thinking patterns, etc… and even more so when it is Spirit-led, but when our focus is solely on ourselves and never on the Source of our Life, we lose our footing, our firm foundation, our sacred center…
James 4:8a NIV
“Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Solitude Is a Furnace
“Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self. Jesus himself entered into this furnace. There he was tempted with the three compulsions of the world: to be relevant (‘turn stones into loaves’), to be spectacular (‘throw yourself down’), and to be powerful (‘I will give you all these kingdoms’). There he affirmed God as the only source of this of his identity (‘You must worship the Lord Your God and serve him alone’). Solitude is the place of the great struggle and the great encounter—the struggle against the compulsions of the false self, and the encounter with the loving God who offers himself as the substance of the new self.” (Henri Nouwen. The Way of the Heart. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1981, p. 25-26)
Buy Nouwen’s The Way of the Heart on Amazon.com
Following and Trusting 