As our culture ramps up the holiday frenzy, we can take up the example of Jesus who often withdrew to be alone even in the times when he was the most sought after.
Let us use these days of Advent to develop a regular practice of silence and solitude. These two practices make up a powerful formative duo that have been relied upon by followers of Jesus across the ages. Yet, we do not need to be intimidated by this even if we have little experience with it.
It is difficult to find silence in an age of technology and information. Silence challenges our cultural addiction to amusement, words, music, advertising, noise, alarms, and voices. Silence asks for patience and waiting. And both silence and waiting make us uncomfortable. They seem so unproductive. We can’t tell if we are doin anything in them. So when we come upon silence, we fill it. We cram it with something we can learn or do or achieve. —Adele Calhoun
You can begin with just a few minutes a day. Mark out a little time and space to be alone and to be quiet. City life may present many obstacles to this so you may need to get creative. Is there a spot you can stop on your commute. Is there a place you can go in a park or on a city bench? Can you get up a little earlier to be alone before your house is stirring?
Simply make time to be alone with God, and don’t put too much pressure on yourself after that. We are not seeking just the absence of noise or other people, but an openness and attentiveness to God.
We must seek out the recreating stillness of solitude if we want to be with others meaningfully. We must seek the fellowship and accountability of others if we want to be alone safely. We must cultivate both if we are to live in obedience. —Richard Foster
If you need help getting started, we have some helpful supplemental resources to recommend. Most of these books have chapters on silence and solitude if not much larger sections devoted these two practices:
Invitation to Silence and Solitude by Ruth Haley Barton
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster
Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun
Devotional Classics edited by Richard Foster and James Bryan Smith
Caleb Clardy introduces the practice of silence and solitude as related to the Advent 2019 teaching series, Our Once & Future Hope.
