“Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me.” Ps 46:10 The Message

Dallas Willard states that practicing solitude and silence are perhaps the most important spiritual disciplines for people today. These two disciplines make space in our lives for God to do his work in and through us. 

Over the years, I’ve learned that simply being alone and quiet isn’t properly practicing these disciplines. There have been many times, when in my isolation and silence, I have simply wallowed in my anxiety and fear. Or I have tried to make something happen or use the time to plan and strategize.

Silence and solitude are disciplines of abstinence. At their core, we disengage from our lives, our agendas, our priorities. And in that disengagement, solitude and silence allow the Reality of God to stand in the midst of our lives.

God is a compassionate, caring, providing Shepherd King. This is God’s world, brimming with boundless goodness. As his world, God is the one in charge of its progress and outcome. Our role is to lean solely into him. God is training us to find our nourishment and sustenance from him, restoring and reintegrating the fragments of our identities and desires around him. He is always close to us, interacting with and directing us to bless others. And when hostility, chaos and terror threaten us, he is with us, protecting, preserving, providing and preparing us to do creative and beautiful goodness for the sake of others, even in the middle of the maelstrom.

Image created with a Sony a7r3 and Lightroom.