Arsenius was a well-educated member of the Roman Senate who lived in the royal court as tutor to the sons of Emperor Theodosius in the 4th century. While living in the palace, Arsenius prayed to God these words, “Lord, lead me in the way of salvation.” A voice came to him, “Arsenius, flee from the world and you will be saved.” He sailed secretly from Rome to Alexandria in Egypt and withdrew to a solitary life in the desert.
Arsenius was one of the early pioneers of a movement we now call the Desert Fathers: men and women (for there were Desert Mothers also) who followed three watchwords—flee, be silent, pray always. The Desert Fathers and Mothers discovered the living God in solitude and silence. That was over 15 centuries ago. Could anything they experienced possibly apply to us?
The Psalmist commands us: “Be still before the Lord.” My question is: CAN we be still today? Do we have it in us? I’m not talking about enforced stillness, like sitting in traffic. I’m talking about choosing stillness over busyness, choosing solitude over accomplishing something. Solitude and silence put the brakes on lives moving at faster and faster rpm’s. And yet for achievers used to constant motion, isn’t solitude for sissies? Doesn’t it sound totally unproductive, maybe even irresponsible? Who wants to be still today?
Like many others, I have drunk deeply from the well of Dallas Willard’s writings. Here’s how he describes the fruit of solitude (The Divine Conspiracy, 360)
That harassing, hovering feeling of “have to” largely comes from the vacuum in your soul, where you ought to be at home with your Father in his kingdom. As the vacuum is rightly filled you will increasingly know that you do not have to do those things—not even those you want to do.
Liberation from our own desires is one the greatest gifts of solitude and silence. When this all begins to happen, you will know you are arriving where you ought to be. Old bondages to wrong-doing will begin to drop off as you see them for what they are. And the possibility of really loving people will dawn upon you.
Soon you may even come to know what it is like to live by grace rather than just talk about it. These are some of the fruits of solitude and silence.
I’ve personally experienced it many times: silence and solitude reveal that yawning vacuum in my soul that only God can fill.
Solitude strips away the veneer of our false, busy selves. Many of us shy away from solitude and silence for exactly this reason—it’s not always pleasant discovering who we really are beneath all the busyness.
CAN we be still? Solitude and silence is essential for our well-being. In solitude, we come to know God better. In solitude, we come to know ourselves better. Arsenius, who ventured into the silent desert 15 centuries ago, does indeed have a lot to teach us.
Question: how do you react to the need for solitude in your life? Please share your thoughts in a comment.
Thank you for sharing your and Willards’ thoughts on the challenge and benefits of solitude. For me, solitude is needed in brief moments (2-5 minutes) before I leave our home, during a lunch break, or in the car before arriving at a client location, and again before returning home. Solitude is also welcome in larger chunks (2-5 hours!), but these allotments are rare with 3 teen children filling our home.
Solitude directs my soul to a place of surrender, a relaxing of my will. In quietness, I feel gratitude for all that God has already done to free me from
my self-imposed chains and the tyranny of the urgent. Solitude is a gift from God that awakens me to the gift of His presence in this moment.
Thank you for the gift of your mind and your heart Rich ;-).
Paul, great thoughts–especially how we can experience solitude in small but significant doses of 2-5 minutes. For many us, waiting until we have large blocks of time may prevent us from seeking these moments already there and waiting for us. Thanks for sharing!
I followed up on the Dallas Willard excerpt and found some interesting commentary on and from the author. What a relevant topic for Christians I found – the fact that our universities are producing generations of students who have no moral compass, and thus our society is moving to a philosophy that there can be no absolutes.