The Love of Solitude and Silence

The following is based off Thomas a Kempis' observations On the Love of Solitude and Silence.

Solitude and silence are two of the most difficult disciplines for the men and women of my generation who live in the western part of the world. With advertisements, television, iphones, the internet, and all sorts of mental noise surrounding them without relent it is difficult to find solitude or silence let alone recognize it is even existent.

All Christians, as Thomas a Kempis suggests, ought to "choose a suitable time for recollection frequently consider the loving-kindness of God." The two important factors of this statement are finding a suitable time (suitable ought to also mean consistent and dependable) and frequently finding solitude and silence. Nobody becomes a master of a discipline by investing in it scarcely or without diligence and great intentionality. If Christians desire to embrace the disciplines of solitude and silence then they must be disciplined and practice! If this were not true then the words discipline and practice would not at all describe solitude and silence.

Kempis is also on target when he informs the reader than this love requires sacrifice (like any true love does) and that it not only requires sacrifice but also a trade of worldly elements for kingdom elements. He states, "If you avoid unnecessary talks and aimless visits, listening to news and gossip, you will find plenty of suitable time to spend in meditation on holy things." If one wants discipleship they must drop their nets just as the first disciples of Christ chose to do. It is difficult to trade one's gossip, news, visits, and idle deeds for what seems, at first, like pointless or fruitless meditation but after much practice it will seem unreasonable to spend any time on aimless visits, unnecessary talk, news, or gossip and it will be clearly fruitful to invest in solitude and silence. However, there is a danger in the love of solitude and silence just as there is danger in loving anything in an earthly life.

For some it my become too easy to dismiss all visits, all talk, all news, and eventually all forms of social interaction. Kempis writes, "The greatest saints used to avoid the company of men whenever they were able, and chose rather to serve God in solitude." While there is nothing wrong or condemnable about desiring solitude with God at every possible opportunity there is a great deal wrong with spending every free moment in solitude. As Stanley Grenz once communicated with the title of one of his systematic theology writings, humans are Created for Community. Within man is the great need for interacting with one another. It would be unwise for anyone to make a habit of spending every spare moment away from brothers and sisters or even the suffering world of darkness that surrounds the Church.

At the same time, it must acknowledged that there is immense value in solitude for a season of time. Israel spent forty years wandering in the desert. Paul spent three years in Arabia after his conversion. Jesus spent forty days in the desert and often escaped in the mornings for solitude to convene with the Father. John the Baptizer and Anthony of the Desert both spent long spans of time in solitude. Faithful monks and nuns have hidden themselves in the arms of God within their monasteries and convents. Surely this is not to be condemned or rebuked but praised! Christian tradition is rich with examples of men and women being blessed by isolation for a time so that they may begin to understand solitude and silence. For until one understands solitude and silence they will have a difficult time making it a priority in the day to day of a common life. Without such understanding a man will come to ruin just as Thomas a Kempis states,"Therefore, whoever is resolved to live and inward and spiritual life must, with Jesus, withdraw from the crowd. No man can live in the public eye without risk to his soul, unless he who would prefer to remain obscure. No man can safely speak unless he who would gladly remain silent." So it is clear that there is great value and great danger in the discipline of solitude and silence.

The key to healthy solitude and silence is found in the moderation of the practice. Too much solitude drives a man insane while too little leaves him to his insanity. Should one learn to escape the world and find a healthy balance of solitude and silence so that he may be calmed and focused on God's loving-kindness then he will not only be sane but a blessing to the world that is still insane. For it is not for the self alone that God calls his children to embrace such disciplines but for the sake of the neighbor. What good is an isolated man of God? True, he may be a glory to God but how much more will God be glorified if his light is shining on a lamp-stand so the whole house may have light?

Jesus is always the perfect example for those who wish to honor God. He spent time in the desert battling against trials and gaining strength. During his ministry he was able to pull away from the crowds and spend time in solitude and in silence with his Father who enabled him to do all his good works. Yet at no point are we led to believe he escaped with every opportunity offered him. What is so marvelous about Jesus is that he prayed for his followers to have such a relationship with his Father as well. John 17 clearly proves that the Christian is to be one who embraces time with the Father and time in the world. The Christian is not only concerned with being holy for one's own salvation but also for the sake of the world so that the sinner may have their sin revealed by the light of Christ, repent, and come into just as healthy a relationship with their heavenly Father. The practice of spending time in solitude and time in the crowd is to imitate Christ as Paul commanded the church in Ephesus.

What Sunday morning is for the Bride so solitude and silence are for the individual. Both bring the servant to the master so that the servant may continue serving the master with instructions and the necessary tools. Solitude and silence are not practiced so one may be in solitude and in silence but so one may be united with the Father! How lonesome to be by one's self in the universe! How utterly horrifying to abandon not only creation but the creator for the sake of self and nothing more. Could there be a worse idolatry? No, solitude and silence are mere means to bring man to God and are not the final destination for any creature.

It is no wonder so many saints through history have sought solitude and silence so tenaciously. Who would not want to spent all their seconds in the presence of Almighty God? Brother Lawrence has shown the Church that there is immeasurable joy and blessing in being in the presence of God every day. But let no Christian forget that there will be a time when God's presence will permeate all reality and darkness will be no more! There will be time for such bliss but at this current time there is a need for Christians to be in the world yet not of it. How one learns to operate within such a tension is found greatly in solitude and silence.