Jesus knew he and his...
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Jesus knew he and his guys could not stand to smell smoke in their nostrils all the time. Like an archer, they needed to pull back before they could let go. The outward journey always bogs down without the inward one. Before we are very effective in the streets of activism we need to be proficient in the sanctuary of solitude.
Gaining that proficiency is not an automatic transaction; it requires effort. Jamie Buckingham, in A Way Through the Wilderness, says, "Whereas silence is passive, solitude is an act of seeking and finding a place of aloneness" (page 173). It took me years to find my solitude. I had found silence and privacy but they did not substitute well. Solitude only came when I'd effectively dealt with the emotional competition of external diversions. Buckingham writes, "There are three basic things that keep us from solitude -- insecurity, greed, and anger. Like spiritual handcuffs, these forces manacle us to the presence of other people, preventing us from drawing aside long enough to save ourselves, or to come face-to-face with God" (page 177).
Acquiring solitude is not easy but it's double worth the effort because drawing aside for a face-to-face with God helps us immensely to face whatever the world hurls at our doorposts. And, more importantly, to truly face ourselves and like what we see.
-- Barnhart
Gaining that proficiency is not an automatic transaction; it requires effort. Jamie Buckingham, in A Way Through the Wilderness, says, "Whereas silence is passive, solitude is an act of seeking and finding a place of aloneness" (page 173). It took me years to find my solitude. I had found silence and privacy but they did not substitute well. Solitude only came when I'd effectively dealt with the emotional competition of external diversions. Buckingham writes, "There are three basic things that keep us from solitude -- insecurity, greed, and anger. Like spiritual handcuffs, these forces manacle us to the presence of other people, preventing us from drawing aside long enough to save ourselves, or to come face-to-face with God" (page 177).
Acquiring solitude is not easy but it's double worth the effort because drawing aside for a face-to-face with God helps us immensely to face whatever the world hurls at our doorposts. And, more importantly, to truly face ourselves and like what we see.
-- Barnhart
