Solitude

As mentioned in my previous post I am reading Henri Nouwen's 'The Way of the Heart: The Spirituality of The Desert Fathers and Mothers.' He suggests there are three ways of "preventing the world from shaping us in its image and are thus the three ways to life in the Spirit." The first is Solitude...

Nouwen says St. Anthony, the "father of monks," is the best guide in our attempts to understand the role of solitude. 

He begins by pointing out the struggle we face, and then directing us on "the way." Following are my notes as a sort of summation:

"...the core of the problem. Our society is not a community radiant with the love of Christ, but a dangerous network of domination and manipulation in which we can easily get entangled and lose our soul." (p. 21)

"...the two main enemies of the spiritual life: anger and greed." (p. 23)

"Solitude is what he calls 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, to be spectacular, and to be powerful. There he affirmed God as the only source of his identity. 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." (p. 25-26)

"The very first thing we need to do, then, is to set apart a time and a place to be with God and him alone." (p.31)

"Solitude is not simply a means to an end. Solitude is its own end. It is the place where Christ remodels us in his own image and frees us from the victimizing compulsions of the world. Solitude is the place of our salvation." (p. 32)

"Compassion is the fruit of solitude and the basis of all ministry." (p. 33)

"Solitude leads to the awareness of the dead person in our own house and keeps us from making judgments about other people's sins. In this way real forgiveness becomes possible. The following desert story offers a good illustration: "A brother . . . committed a fault. A council was called to which Abba Moses was invited, but he refused to go to it. Then the priest sent someone to say to him, 'Come, for everyone is waiting for you.' So he got up and went. He took a leaking jug, filled it with water, and carried it with him. The others came out to meet him and said to him, 'What is this, Father?' The old man said to them, 'My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, and today I am coming to judge the error of another.' When they heard that they said no more to the brother but forgave him." (p. 37)

"Thus in and through solitude we do not move away from people. On the contrary, we move closer to them through compassionate ministry." (p. 39)

--

This was perhaps the most relevant section of the book for me. When I was working downtown I confess I got a little full of myself. I liked being where I could witness some of the local 'movers and shakers.' It felt good to be recognized when we went places. It was the thing I missed the most when I left that job, and it quickly hit me that it was perhaps the main source of my struggle at the time (relevance and a desire for power). 

I feel like these past months have been good for me to be fairly isolated and focus more on finding my true self.

This section also fit well with a message I've been toying with on the subject of compassion. I'm not sure we can be capable of compassion without facing our anger and greed. I had a lot, and I'm still working through it (and likely always will be).

So, in case I didn't include a direct quote about this, while solitude may look like getting AWAY from people, the point of it is actually to be able to be WITH people. Learning to hear/see God, and treat others with compassion and love. That seems pretty spot on to what the church is lacking today and we would do well to listen up.

Also, it's a reminder to resist the cultural call to be involved in everything and be "in the know." This is the way to go...