- Luke 5: 12-16 (The priority of private prayer)
- Matthew 4: 1-11 (Quality quiet time builds strength)
- Ecclesiastes 3: 1-13 (A time for everything)
- Luke 22: 39-46 (How solitude can strengthen)
- Galatians 1: 11-24 (Solitude precedes Service)
- Luke 17: 20-21 (The true "kingdom of God")
- Psalms 37: 1-7 (Lessons learned)
The hymn for the week was "I Need Thee Every Hour ". (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)
The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Henri J. Nouwen, Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Tilden H. Edwards, Edward J. Farrell, Morton T. Kelsey, S. D. Gordon, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Thomas 'a Kempis and Andrew Murray. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)
Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:
- “Deserts, silence, solitudes are 'not necessarily places but states of mind and heart'. ...it is God who makes solitude, deserts and silences holy. ...One of the first steps toward solitude is a departure."
- "...Jesus' guidance ... was a rhythm of dealing with individuals, groups and crowds ... There was one other dimension of this rhythm: solitude."
- "As long as my mind is raging with thoughts, ideas, plans and fears, I cannot listen significantly to God or any other dimension of reality. ... In quietness we find detachment and so untie ourselves from total attention to outer, physical reality."
- "How much prayer meant to Jesus! ... There was no emergency, no difficulty, no necessity, no temptation that would not yield to prayer, as He practiced it."
- "Exterior retirement is not sufficient ... but interior retirement is likewise necessary. ... A soul which is separated from all the amusements of the senses seeks and finds in God that pure satisfaction which it can never meet within creatures. ...with a view of honoring His sovereign dominion by the complete destruction of sin in itself, it renounces all desire of finding any other satisfaction than that of pleasing Him."
- "The desert initiates us into the life of the spirit by helping us to discover who we most deeply are."
What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 6 not quoted) mean to you? I look forward to your responses.
John
2 comments:
I have postulated in times past that there are some generational aspects to how we, as individuals, worship God in the quietness of our own hearts. Many times I have heard this time of devotion referred to as a “quiet time”. But, like many folks in the younger generation, I can’t stand it when it is too quiet. My daughter is typical of many. She can study, watch TV and listen to her iPod while talking to me on her cell phone. I can’t do all of that like she does. But I need some kind of background noise.
I am not a big fan of quiet “quiet times”. The joke in my family growing up was that the reason I never wanted to be quiet or alone was because my conscience would speak to me in that solitude. And that was not a good thing because of all the misbehaving and trouble I got in!
But there’s that word -- Solitude. Is solitude a requirement in order to have intimate times with God? I don’t think so. At least I hope it isn’t. Because I despise solitude. I find nothing inherently Holy in quietness and solitude.
Music is one of the ways that I worship and reflect on God in times of personal devotion. The Holy Spirit speaks to me most frequently through the words of hymns and, more recently, even some contemporary Christian music. My new Zune has become an integral part of my “quiet time”. Although it is not all that quiet. You can’t listen to “Then Came the Morning” by The Cathedrals with the volume on low! You have to let that one play at a volume in your earphones close the decibel level of a 747 jet taking off from Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Thanks kjkeb, for your comment. Whatever works for you! The point is, find something that works. To me, solitude is another one of the "tudes" - attitude, etc. It probably exists more importantly in the mind than in the real physical world.
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