Monday, March 16, 2009
Val J. Peter
INTRODUCTION:
Once again, what is being shared here in the following pages is Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline - The Path to Spiritual Growth which was written 25 years ago and has sold more than a million copies. This is mostly a paraphrase so the good things attribute to him and all the rest is mine.
1. Foster starts off by telling us that “Jesus calls us from loneliness to solitude.” Loneliness is a familiar phenomenon to just about everyone. It doesn’t mean simply being alone; loneliness means that we have the feeling that no one cares, no one is near. We might as well not exist. And the fear of loneliness turns into the fear of being alone. That’s a mistake, but it’s one that petrifies people. Loneliness is the little child who says no one ever plays with me. Loneliness is the college freshman who says: I live in the freshman dorm. Everyone comes and goes. No one notices me. No one cares. In high school, I was the center of attention. Now I’m a nobody. A highly placed executive sits in her office quite dejected, powerful, and yet no one seems to care. An old man is in a skilled nursing home, but he doesn’t feel like it’s a home. He’s waiting to go home.
It is this fear of being alone (different from solitude) that makes us turn on the TV as soon as we get up in the morning, leaving it on all day. It is this fear of being alone that drives us to noise in the crowds. We talk on and on, even if our words are inane. We have cell phones that bring us instant news or video or movies. T. S. Eliot describes us our culture when he writes:
Where shall the world be found,
Where shall the word resound
Not here
There is not enough silence.
Do we only have two choices, namely, loneliness or clatter/noise? Is there a middle ground called inner solitude and silence which can be cultivated, which can set us free from loneliness and fear, on one hand, and clatter and noise on the other? Is there a middle ground between the inner emptiness of loneliness and the utter banality of clutter and clatter? Yes. It is solitude and silence, inner fulfillment.
Solitude is really and truly a state of mind and heart more than it is a place. Solitude of heart can be maintained pretty much at all times. Being in a crowd or being alone has little to do with inward solitude and attentiveness to it. You can be a desert hermit and never experience solitude. You can be in the midst of a crowd and never experience solitude. If you possess inward solitude, you do not fear being alone for you know you are not alone. If you experience inner solitude, you know that fear of being with others is nonsense for they cannot control you. You can settle into a deep inner silence in the midst of noise and confusion whether you are with a whole bunch of people or all by yourself. You can always carry with you solitude of heart.
Foster says: “Inward solitude has outward manifestations”
Jesus lived in inward “solitude of the heart” as He frequently experience outward solitude.
He began His ministry by spending 40 days alone in the desert. (Matthew 4,1-11)
Before He chose the Twelve Apostles, he spent the entire night alone in the desert. (Luke 6,12)
When He was told that John the Baptist had been killed by Herod, He “withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart.” (Matthew 14,13)
After the multiplication of the loaves and fishes feeding 5,000, Jesus “went up into the hills by Himself.” (Matthew 14,23)
Following a long night of work: “In the morning, a great while before day, He rose and went out to a lonely place.” (Mark 1,35)
When the apostles returned from their first mission of preaching and healing, Jesus instructed them: “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place.” (Mark 6,31)
After He healed a leper, Jesus “withdrew to the wilderness and prayed.” (Luke 5,16)
With Peter, James and John, He sought the silence of a lonely mountain for the Transfiguration. (Matthew 17,1-9)
As He prepared for His most holy work, Jesus sought the solitude of the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matthew 26,36-46)
It was a regular practice for Jesus to seek out solitary places.
It should be the same for us.
2. Now let’s look at some spiritual heroes who know what makes for inner solitude.
a. Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book Life Together has one chapter called “The Day Together” and the chapter after that called “The Day Alone.” Both are essential for spiritual success. This is what he says: “Let him who cannot be alone, beware of community…let him who is not in community beware of being alone…each by itself has profound pitfalls and perils. One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation and despair.”
b. The inseparable connection between inner solitude and inner silence:
All the masters of the interior life speak of the two in the same breath.
The Imitation of Christ, which was the unchallenged masterpiece of devotional literature for 500 years has a section entitled “On the love of solitude and silence.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer makes the two inseparable in Life Together.
Thomas Merton does the same in his book Thoughts in Solitude.
Foster says: “Spiritual Disciplines are things that we do. We must never lose sight of this fact.” It is one thing to talk piously about the solitude of the heart, but if that does not somehow work its way into our experience, then we have missed the point of the Discipline…all those who have come into the living silences have done certain things, have ordered their lives in a particular way so as to receive this “peace that surpasses all understanding.”
Foster says there are steps into the solitude and the first one is to take advantage of “little solitudes” that fill our day. The early morning moments in bed before the family awakens…a morning cup of coffee before beginning the day’s work…the solitude of bumper to bumper traffic during rush hour…driving to the store…turning the corner and seeing a tree or flower…with your children “let’s play a game and see if everyone can be absolutely quiet for five minutes until we reach the airport”…the little walk from the subway to your apartment…step outside before bed and taste the silent night.
Foster says also we can develop a “quiet place”…a spot in our house, a spot in the church, a spot in the park.
Foster also recommends about four times a year we withdraw for three or four hours for the purpose of reorienting our life goals. You can do this easily in one evening. Stay late at the office, do it at home, find a quiet corner in the public library.
Thomas Merton says: “It is in deep solitude that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love my brothers. The more solitary I am, the more affection I have for them…solitude and silence teach me to love my brothers for what they are, not for what they say.”
Foster writes: “Don’t you feel a tug, a yearning to seek down into the silence and solitude of God? Don’t you long for something more? It is the Discipline of solitude that will open the door.” You are welcome to come in and listen to God’s speech and His wondrous, terrible, gentle loving, all embracing silence.” (Catherine de Haeck Doherty)
INTRODUCTION:
Once again, what is being shared here in the following pages is Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline - The Path to Spiritual Growth which was written 25 years ago and has sold more than a million copies. This is mostly a paraphrase so the good things attribute to him and all the rest is mine.
1. Foster starts off by telling us that “Jesus calls us from loneliness to solitude.” Loneliness is a familiar phenomenon to just about everyone. It doesn’t mean simply being alone; loneliness means that we have the feeling that no one cares, no one is near. We might as well not exist. And the fear of loneliness turns into the fear of being alone. That’s a mistake, but it’s one that petrifies people. Loneliness is the little child who says no one ever plays with me. Loneliness is the college freshman who says: I live in the freshman dorm. Everyone comes and goes. No one notices me. No one cares. In high school, I was the center of attention. Now I’m a nobody. A highly placed executive sits in her office quite dejected, powerful, and yet no one seems to care. An old man is in a skilled nursing home, but he doesn’t feel like it’s a home. He’s waiting to go home.
It is this fear of being alone (different from solitude) that makes us turn on the TV as soon as we get up in the morning, leaving it on all day. It is this fear of being alone that drives us to noise in the crowds. We talk on and on, even if our words are inane. We have cell phones that bring us instant news or video or movies. T. S. Eliot describes us our culture when he writes:
Where shall the world be found,
Where shall the word resound
Not here
There is not enough silence.
Do we only have two choices, namely, loneliness or clatter/noise? Is there a middle ground called inner solitude and silence which can be cultivated, which can set us free from loneliness and fear, on one hand, and clatter and noise on the other? Is there a middle ground between the inner emptiness of loneliness and the utter banality of clutter and clatter? Yes. It is solitude and silence, inner fulfillment.
Solitude is really and truly a state of mind and heart more than it is a place. Solitude of heart can be maintained pretty much at all times. Being in a crowd or being alone has little to do with inward solitude and attentiveness to it. You can be a desert hermit and never experience solitude. You can be in the midst of a crowd and never experience solitude. If you possess inward solitude, you do not fear being alone for you know you are not alone. If you experience inner solitude, you know that fear of being with others is nonsense for they cannot control you. You can settle into a deep inner silence in the midst of noise and confusion whether you are with a whole bunch of people or all by yourself. You can always carry with you solitude of heart.
Foster says: “Inward solitude has outward manifestations”
Jesus lived in inward “solitude of the heart” as He frequently experience outward solitude.
He began His ministry by spending 40 days alone in the desert. (Matthew 4,1-11)
Before He chose the Twelve Apostles, he spent the entire night alone in the desert. (Luke 6,12)
When He was told that John the Baptist had been killed by Herod, He “withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart.” (Matthew 14,13)
After the multiplication of the loaves and fishes feeding 5,000, Jesus “went up into the hills by Himself.” (Matthew 14,23)
Following a long night of work: “In the morning, a great while before day, He rose and went out to a lonely place.” (Mark 1,35)
When the apostles returned from their first mission of preaching and healing, Jesus instructed them: “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place.” (Mark 6,31)
After He healed a leper, Jesus “withdrew to the wilderness and prayed.” (Luke 5,16)
With Peter, James and John, He sought the silence of a lonely mountain for the Transfiguration. (Matthew 17,1-9)
As He prepared for His most holy work, Jesus sought the solitude of the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matthew 26,36-46)
It was a regular practice for Jesus to seek out solitary places.
It should be the same for us.
2. Now let’s look at some spiritual heroes who know what makes for inner solitude.
a. Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book Life Together has one chapter called “The Day Together” and the chapter after that called “The Day Alone.” Both are essential for spiritual success. This is what he says: “Let him who cannot be alone, beware of community…let him who is not in community beware of being alone…each by itself has profound pitfalls and perils. One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation and despair.”
b. The inseparable connection between inner solitude and inner silence:
All the masters of the interior life speak of the two in the same breath.
The Imitation of Christ, which was the unchallenged masterpiece of devotional literature for 500 years has a section entitled “On the love of solitude and silence.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer makes the two inseparable in Life Together.
Thomas Merton does the same in his book Thoughts in Solitude.
Foster says: “Spiritual Disciplines are things that we do. We must never lose sight of this fact.” It is one thing to talk piously about the solitude of the heart, but if that does not somehow work its way into our experience, then we have missed the point of the Discipline…all those who have come into the living silences have done certain things, have ordered their lives in a particular way so as to receive this “peace that surpasses all understanding.”
Foster says there are steps into the solitude and the first one is to take advantage of “little solitudes” that fill our day. The early morning moments in bed before the family awakens…a morning cup of coffee before beginning the day’s work…the solitude of bumper to bumper traffic during rush hour…driving to the store…turning the corner and seeing a tree or flower…with your children “let’s play a game and see if everyone can be absolutely quiet for five minutes until we reach the airport”…the little walk from the subway to your apartment…step outside before bed and taste the silent night.
Foster says also we can develop a “quiet place”…a spot in our house, a spot in the church, a spot in the park.
Foster also recommends about four times a year we withdraw for three or four hours for the purpose of reorienting our life goals. You can do this easily in one evening. Stay late at the office, do it at home, find a quiet corner in the public library.
Thomas Merton says: “It is in deep solitude that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love my brothers. The more solitary I am, the more affection I have for them…solitude and silence teach me to love my brothers for what they are, not for what they say.”
Foster writes: “Don’t you feel a tug, a yearning to seek down into the silence and solitude of God? Don’t you long for something more? It is the Discipline of solitude that will open the door.” You are welcome to come in and listen to God’s speech and His wondrous, terrible, gentle loving, all embracing silence.” (Catherine de Haeck Doherty)
posted by Fr. Peter | 9:07 AM
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