I loved studying about the Spiritual Disciplines when I took part at Shiloh University’s Spiritual Formation Class. I often go back to those lessons, seeking a practical application in my life. This blog is about an experience I had with the discipline of solitude.
Recently, I took part in a Somatic Movement Class with a focus on breathing and gentle exercises for the neck and upper back area. It was a three hour workshop which involved quiet time and developing awareness of muscles and movements. I have to confess it was hard for me to be quiet for those three hours, not because I couldn’t refrain from talking, but I struggled to shut down my mind. I kept thinking what I was going to make for dinner, and different people I had to talk to. Basically my brain kept giving me to do lists. At one point I decided to speak in tongues in my head, and just be thankful for that moment and focus on what the teacher was saying and the exercises.
I spoke to my husband about my difficulty with the silence and how challenging it was to quiet my brain. He then encouraged me to go back to the lesson on solitude from the class I took and as I read the messages and chapter from that particular lesson, and took time to meditate and write on my journal, I was reminded of how important this discipline is.
As a mother, I have so many roles and I am constantly being solicited to do things and help my kids, my husband and so many others. Because I am a pillar in my home and my church, I must carve out time to wait on the Lord, pray, and have quiet time. It is a must! It is not only being in silence and not uttering words, but the discipline to quiet down my mind and focus on God to listen. One thing that helped me was that during that workshop I did not have my phone with me for three whole hours!
I encourage everyone to go after these moments of solitude. How refreshing and important they are! God bless our moments to pause and draw from Him the strength and awareness of His love so we can bless all those He trusted in our care.
Here are some reminders to reflect on:
“Without silence there is no solitude. Though silence sometimes involves the absence of speech, it always involves the act of listening. Simply to refrain from talking, without a heart listening to God, is not silence.” Richard J. Foster, CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE
“Get alone with God, and having only a short prayer to pray, you will find your heart going over and over things; and then you will speak a sentence to the Lord. A man could feasibly take all night to pray the Lords’ prayer if he prayed it right. It is not that we just click it off with words, but it becomes something of God’s utterance within us. Think about it sometime; keep weighing it over. That is the way we wait on the Lord. What is waiting on the Lord? It is the prayer of listening.” John R. Stevens, COMPULSION TO TALK, This week, December 31, 1972
“Let’s discipline ourselves so that our words are few and full.” Richard J. Foster, CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE
Psalm 46:10
Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 7
Ecclesiastes 5
Psalms 62:1