SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 113

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF SOLITUDE

  

+ As soon as we are alone, ...inner chaos opens up in us. This chaos can be so disturbing and so confusing that we can hardly wait to get busy again. Entering a private room and shutting the door, therefore, does not mean that we immediately shut out all our inner doubts, anxieties, fears, bad memories, unresolved conflicts, angry feelings and impulsive desires. On the contrary, when we have removed our outer distraction, we often find that our inner distraction manifest themselves to us in full force. We often use the outer distractions to shield ourselves from the interior noises. This makes the discipline of solitude all the more important.

― Henri J.M. Nouwen in Making All Things New and Other Classics

+ It is very important for us to accept and understand this truth.  You may need to seek a wise teacher or healer or friend to help you confront what you find inside your mind, heart, body and soul.  Deitrich Bonhoeffer, who gave us wise counsel in SE 109, taught us that we need to embrace a “costly grace,” not a “cheap grace.”  This means we can’t avoid dealing with all of that stuff Nouwen  talks about.  Ultimately we find beauty, love and truth as we work through all that stuff in solitude and in community.  It will all work out.  You are wonderful.  You are fantastic.  You are delightful.  You are heavenly.  God made you that way.

I can’t over-emphasize how important it is to find that solitary space where you can go deep into that sacred place which is your mind, heart, body and soul.  That’s because …

You are, we are, I am

intimately infinitely, intricately

connected

by a matrix of

 unconditional, unlimited, uniting Love

which is

miraculous, mysterious and marvelous.

I know I’ve said that before.  And I will say it again.  Our heavenly reality is discovered as we practice all of these practices we are exploring.  What heavenly discoveries are you making these days as you contemplate, meditate and pray?

+ Spirituality & Practice offers many resources on the spiritual practice of Solitude.

+ Spirituality & Practice offers many resources on the spiritual practice of Grace and a Twelves Gallery of Memes on Grace. The meme above comes from that gallery.  Thank You S&P.

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this practice or any practice.  And, I have work to do on my Solitude Page.   Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Solitude” or “Guest Post” to John@abundancetrek.com.

+ You can always find a link to any of the Spiritual Explorations posts by going to http://abundancetrek.com/sepostsaccess.html