“The simplest spiritual discipline is some degree of solitude and silence. But it’s the hardest, because none of us want to be with someone we don’t love. Besides that, we invariably feel bored with ourselves, and all of our loneliness comes to the surface.”

– Richard Rohr, from Radical Grace: Daily Meditations

Richard Rohr’s quote is one that I find quite challenging in my own spiritual life. Admittedly, I am very good at solitude itself. I lived mostly on my own and by myself in my college years, I don’t get bored being alone, and if I didn’t have a family to love and provide for, I would probably be a hermit living out in the woods somewhere. That may be dramatic, but I’m not certain that it isn’t true. If you were to ask me to describe the perfect day, it would probably include a day out in a cabin with a fireplace, a stack of books, and some headphones.

As good as I am with solitude, I am actually quite poor at silence. In fact, I am writing this blog with another podcast playing in the background, and music on behind that. Maybe I can blame that on my undiagnosed but probable ADHD (which I would argue that most types of neurodivergence are typically more of a superpower than a handicap, but that’s a conversation for another day). Regardless, I have a hard time sitting in silence when there is something to learn about every minute of the day! But the conviction comes here… How can I learn to love someone better that I am unwilling to listen to in my heart of hearts? 

I understand the value of listening and absorbing in everyday life – I am probably going to be the last person to speak in a conversation, only after hearing each viewpoint represented to accurately assess the situation. After all, my favorite social saying is that “You have two ears and one mouth – there’s a reason for that.”  But I find it much harder to be silent before the Lord. Why is that, I ask myself? 

Maybe it’s boredom. Maybe it’s ADHD. Maybe, just maybe, it’s fear. Fear that if I listen to God too purposefully, He may tell me something I don’t want to hear. He may convict my heart of something I’m not willing to let go. He may point things out in my life that I’m unwilling to address. But part of being a disciple, I have learned and am continually learning, is to lean into the discomfort of silence. Even Jesus retreated to silence throughout His ministry (usually paired with solitude):

“Despite Jesus’ plea that his miracles be kept secret the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (Luke 5:15-16)

Jesus often went out into quiet and solitary places to practice intimacy with God through relational prayer. He removed himself from people for the purpose of relationship with His Father! As good as we are at practicing community, we have even more of a call to practice being with God. This type of intimacy with the Lord can only happen in personal silence and solitude (often through prayer) before Him.  

Our challenge is to continually remove ourselves from the distractions of today – from our business meetings, from our school obligations, from the sports we constantly attend, from the shows we can’t stop binging, and even from the other Christians we may surround ourselves with – all for the purpose of pursuing silence and solitude before the Lord. May God speak to your heart in a fresh way as we lean into this practice as a Body. 

-Pastor Dusty