Solitude Creates Space for God
To live a
Christian life means to live in the world without being of it. It is in
solitude that this inner freedom can grow. Jesus went to a lonely place
to pray, that is, to grow in the awareness that all the power he had was
given to him; that all the words he spoke came from his Father; and
that all the works he did were not really his but the works of the One
who had sent him. In the lonely place Jesus was made free to fail.
A life
without a lonely place, that is, a life without a quiet center, easily
becomes destructive. When we cling to the results of our actions as our
only way of self-identification, then we become possessive and defensive
and tend to look at our fellow human beings more as enemies to be kept
at a distance than as friends with whom we share the gifts of life.
In solitude
we can slowly unmask the illusion of our possessiveness and discover in
the center of our own self that we are not what we can conquer, but what
is given to us. In solitude we can listen to the voice of him who spoke
to us before we could speak a word, who healed us before we could make
any gesture to help, who set us free long before we could free others,
and who loved us long before we could give love to anyone. It is in this
solitude that we discover that being is more important than having, and
that we are worth more than the results of our efforts. In solitude we
discover that our life is not a possession to be defended, but a gift to
be shared. It’s there we recognize that the healing words we speak are
not just our own, but are given to us; that the love we can express is
part of a greater love; and the new life we bring forth is not a
property to cling to, but a gift to be received.
Henri Nouwen
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