The Practice of Solitude

“I have often said that the sole cause of man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room.” — Blaise Pascal

“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10

In our Spring Cross-Training class, we are reading the Christian spiritual classic The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. The basic question we are considering together is how we can become people who can dwell in God’s presence in our everyday life. This is what the Reformers talked about as living Coram Deo, before the face of God. One aspect of an answer to this question is the practice of solitude. 

What is solitude? It doesn’t have to mean withdrawing from civilization and living as a hermit in a cabin, but it does mean being able to be alone with your thoughts. You can experience solitude even in the presence of other people at home or sitting in a coffee shop. But you can also be alone in a room and not experience solitude at all because you’re connected to your digital device and toggling between five different social media accounts. That’s the great threat to solitude in our day. 

Often when we think of solitude what we may wish for is a time and place for ourselves in which we are not bothered by other people. We think of solitude as a station where we can recharge our batteries and gather new strength. Certainly pulling away for a short time of “retreat” can be very life-restoring, but that’s not what we mean by solitude. Solitude doesn’t mean to be alone with ourselves, but to be alone with God wherever we are.

So why should we practice solitude? We enter solitude first of all to meet our Lord and be with him. Our primary task in solitude, therefore, is to keep the eyes of our heart and mind on Jesus who is our Saviour and Shepherd. Only in this context of grace can we honestly face our sin, our fears, and our false self. As we do so we come to realize that it is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us (Gal 2:20) and we begin to experience the freedom of the children of God. 

What does this mean for us in our daily life? Even though we are not called to the monastic life like Brother Lawrence, we are still responsible for our own solitude. We have to fashion our own interior sanctuary where we can withdraw every day and dwell in the loving presence of our Lord, filling our minds with thoughts of him—often by meditating on Scripture—and talking to him in prayer. The way we can practice solitude could involve the four suggestions that Brother Lawrence gives in his book: establishing ourselves in God’s presence by continually talking to him, feeding our souls on lofty thoughts of God, surrendering ourselves to his will, and doing all things out of love for him. The concrete shape of this practice of solitude will be different for each person depending on individual character and our circumstances in life. But it must be as concrete and specific as daily life itself.

One way you can try this is next time you notice that moment when you’re alone with your thoughts, instead of escaping the solitude by turning on the TV or checking your social media accounts, turn your attention to God and dwell with him for a minute or two. Solitude is the place where Christ remodels us in his own image. As we become more Christlike, radiant with God’s love, we become people who are able bring that life to a distracted world.