Saturday, August 05, 2006
SOLITUDE CAN BE A STATE OF MIND
By nature, I am an introvert. A friend of mine helped me understand that introverts need to be alone in order to "recharge" themselves. That describes me. Time with my immediate family (Lisa and Evan) is great for me, too. One of my favorite times of day, though, is about 5 a.m. I usually get up a bit before that and am actually awake by 5. I am the only one in the house who is awake. (Well, the dog may be awake but she's in a different room.) I can use that early morning time to read, pray, or do Bible study and that is great. Sometimes I use it to catch up on email or devotional and blog reading. In any event, I always hate it when 6:00 rolls around and I need to hit the shower. I'd love to have just a few more minutes to prepare and recharge for the day.

Jesus sought solitude when he needed to gain strength and direction. 40 days in the desert. After learning that John was executed. After feeding the 5,000. After healing the "many" in Capernaum. The Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest. These were all times when He went to be alone and visit with His father. Time to recharge. Time to seek direction. Time to prepare.

Despite His seeking solitude at certain times, He was one with the Father at all times. I suspect that, in His human form, Jesus needed times of true focus and devotion with God.

In our life, I think there are different ways to gain solitude and different things can work for different people. Like I said, I can be alone completely or with Lisa and Evan and still have the ability to recharge.

Henri J. M. Nouwen, in The Way of the Heart, explains how solitude with God can be a continuous thing. You don't have to scale a mountain and live alone in a cave for 40 years. We can have continual contact with God by staying in the world but not of the world. Having a human body but God's heart. Being at constant peace.

I remember my great grandmother who exemplified this peace at all times. No matter what was going on around her or what beset her, she was at peace. She knew that her place and her ultimate worth were not in this world but with God and that was where her mind and heart were at all times. When she died at the age of 94, according to the mortician, she did so with a smile on her face.

Despite my desire for recharging time either alone or with my family, I still have quite a ways to go before having this sort of peace in my mind and heart at all times. I pray that I might reach that point at some time before I die. The sooner, the better.

  posted at 4:32 PM  
  0 comments



0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home



Who Am I?

Name:
Todd M

Location:



An ordinary guy. A wife I love very much. A great son. Wonderful friends. A metal roofing business and a sales training business. A loving church family. A few trade associations. A Christian school. And a four-pound poodle. Just trying to follow God and see where He leads.

My Complete Profile


Buy My Book! (please)
  • Trying To Lose My "Self" In Israel

  • Past Posts
  • MISTRANSLATIONS
  • ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
  • BROKEN AND BEAUTIFUL
  • THIS MAN FROM NAZARETH
  • AUTO-CORRECT SPELLCHECK
  • ATTITUDE TOWARD TEAMMATES
  • SUPERNATURAL REALITY
  • LEARNING POINT
  • THE WAY OF THE HEART
  • IMPROVING THE SHAPE I AM IN

  • Great Blogs
  • Dan Gildner
  • Hope Shifts
  • Trey Morgan
  • Hey Jules
  • DadBloggers
  • David Porath
  • Antique Mommy
  • Tony Morgan
  • Chris Reeder
  • Gary Lamb
  • Perry Noble
  • David Foster
  • Scott Hodge
  • Mark Meyer
  • Donald Miller
  • Sidney First Leadership Community
  • Irenic Thoughts
  • Sidney First UMC

  • Archives
  • May 2006
  • June 2006
  • July 2006
  • August 2006
  • September 2006
  • October 2006
  • November 2006
  • December 2006
  • January 2007
  • February 2007
  • March 2007
  • April 2007
  • May 2007
  • June 2007
  • July 2007
  • August 2007
  • September 2007
  • October 2007
  • November 2007
  • December 2007
  • January 2008
  • February 2008
  • March 2008
  • April 2008
  • May 2008
  • June 2008
  • July 2008
  • August 2008
  • September 2008
  • October 2008
  • November 2008
  • December 2008
  • January 2009
  • February 2009
  • March 2009
  • April 2009
  • May 2009
  • June 2009
  • July 2009
  • August 2009
  • September 2009
  • November 2009
  • December 2009
  • January 2010
  • March 2010
  • April 2010
  • June 2010
  • September 2010
  • July 2011

  • Gargantuan List of Methodist Bloggers

    Credits and Links



    istockphoto





    Christian Blogger Network


    Blogarama