solitude Jesus was able to listen to the voice of the Father and not be directed by the needs and demands of the people. In prayer the first thing we need is to be silent before God so that we can hear Him speak to us.
Jesus also told his followers that when they prayed they were to ‘go into their room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret’. Prayer was never intended to be an act whereby one reveals their piety before others. This was something the Pharisees loved to do. In the silent place we are able to simply ‘be’ with God not distracted by our surroundings or the presence of others so that we can focus upon and listen to God. Solitude is the place where we can risk being transparent before God. He knows our heart, and it is important if we want to develop an intimate relationship with him that we be totally honest with him and with our self. We will only risk doing this when we are in the presence of one who loves and accepts us as we are unconditionally.
Exercise
1. Go to a quiet place where you will not be disturbed for 30 minutes.
2. Read. Matt. 6:6-15.
3. In silence wait upon God. As thoughts enter your mind offer them in a prayer to God. Be careful not to avoid painful or disturbing ideas. This is a place where you can be open and vulnerable with God.
4. At the end of your prayer, conclude with the prayer Jesus taught in Matt.6:9-13.
Day 7. To Prepare for Ones Death
Developing the discipline of silence and solitude as a mean of preparation for dying seems rather strange if not morbid. Yet dying, a reality that will happen to all of us, is something we need to face.
It is fascinating to understand that when people are dying they desire to have others with them, they do not want to go through the experience alone. Part of this can be explained by the fact we develop emotional bonds with people we love. They have become a part of our life and dying means there will be a separation of theses relationships. So at the time of death many experience ‘separation anxiety’. They are afraid to let go, because they do not know what life will be like without the other.
I was with my youngest brother when he died. Quite suddenly he became very ill and was taken to the critical care unit at the local hospital. In the middle of the night I was called by the hospital staff to come and be with him because he had taken a turn for the worse and was not expected to live through the night. In that hospital room my parents, my wife and I gathered to be with him as he was dying. He was surrounded by people who loved and cared for him. We talked to him, we prayed with him and we held his hand. In that moment I wondered ‘what is it like to die’? Regardless of the fact that he was surrounded by those who loved and cared for him, he still had to die by himself. What was he thinking? What was he feeling? What was this dying experience like?
As Christians we are given the promise of Jesus ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you”.
It suddenly became evident that as I learned to experience, and not just theorize about the presence of Christ in my life, I would be able to face my own dying without anxiety and fear because I would know the awareness of Christ’s presence in my day to day living. I would be able to identify with the Psalmist who said ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me’. Ps.23:4.
There are different places in life where we are forced to be alone. It may be through sickness, times of forced confinement, and even death. All of these are places where no one else can enter with us. How we cope in these situations will depend upon our preparation. Learning the discipline of silence and solitude is part of that preparation.
Exercise
1. Take an extended period to enter into silence. What is it like for you with no one around? What are the thoughts that keep coming to the forefront of your mind? What does this reveal to you?
2. Read Ps. 23. How do you identify with the writer? What comfort does the text give you as you face the challenges of your life?
3. In what way do you ‘experience’ the presence of Christ? Is this more than a theological concept? Explain.
4. Take some time to think about your own death. How will you experience the presence of Christ with you?
5. Write out your fears, anxieties and concerns about dying. Now write out a prayer and offer this to God.
6. Meditate on Romans 14:7-8
“No one of us lives and equally no one of us dies, for himself alone. If we live we live unto the Lord; and if we die we die unto the Lord. Whether therefore we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”
7. Memorize the following question and answer from the Heidelberg Catechism Q and A 1
Q. “What is your only comfort in life and in death?”
A. “That I am not my own, but belong - body and soul, in life and in death - to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ”.
Endnotes
1. Robert Webber, Vickey Tusken, John Witvliet, Jack Schrader Renew! Songs and Hymns of Blended Worship. (Carol Stream: Hope Publishing Company) 1998 pg. 10
2. C. S. Lewis www.opusangelorum.org/Formation/SilenceandSolitude. pg. 3 June 2000
3. Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart (New York: Ballantine Books) 1981 pg. 13-15
4. Henri Nouwen, Genesee Dairy (New York: Double Day) 1976 pg. 148
5. John Ortburg, The Life You Always Wanted (Grand Rapids: Zondervan) 2003 pg. 82
6. Weavings December 1996 pg. 40
7. Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus (New Jersey: Crossroads) 1996 pg. 18
8. ibid. pg. 22
9. ibid. pg. 38
10. ibid. pg. 39
11. ibid. pg 57-60
WEEK TWO: Holy Reading
The Bible has always played an important part in the spiritual formation of God’s people since it is the word of God given to shape and direct our life.
There are many different ways to study the bible, but an ancient method called ‘lectio divina’, which can be translated ‘holy reading’ or ‘sacred reading’ dating back to the fourth century, is being rediscovered today.
In the Enlightenment era, there was a great emphasis upon understanding the text. Thus critical methodologies of studying the Bible were utilized. Today in the post-modern era there is a desire to understand the Bible in a holistic manner. Many are asking the question how does the biblical text speak to me as a person? Holy reading is a contemplative approach which helps us to hear the word of God as we read the text, and through this approach we discover an increasing ability to respond to what God has said to us through the text by offering more of ourselves and our relationships to God. In fact holy reading is a form of prayer. God speaks to us through scripture and then
