Liberating Solitude

According to a recent study, many people prefer to give themselves a mild electric shock
than to sit in a room alone with their own thoughts.

Neel Burton, M.A., M.D.

I read an article recently that found that many people prefer to give themselves a mild electric shock rather than be left alone with their thoughts. That’s pretty telling. Solitude is hard to come by, given how interconnected we are with technology. We’re always in contact with other people, and it’s not always good. We need time to be creative, problem-solve, and present – in our own minds, empowered by the Spirit of God.

Loneliness, the pain of being alone, is damaging; solitude, the joy of being alone, is empowering. Our unconscious requires solitude to process and unravel problems, so much so that our body imposes it upon us each night in the form of sleep. By removing us from the constraints, distractions, and influences imposed upon us by others, solitude frees us to reconnect with ourselves, assimilate ideas, and generate identity and meaning.

Neel Burton, M.A., M.D.

I shared these four statements on Substack today.

• Being alone deepens our concentration, our focus, and our ability to problem-solve.
• Being alone can boost creativity, allow thoughts to incubate, and provide clarity.
• Scientists say being alone can strengthen empathy, helping you develop compassion for those around you.
• More importantly, being alone also allows us to hear God’s thoughts and experience the divine. We gain perspective, restoration, and peace from quiet solitude.

A true Christian doubtless delights in religious fellowship and Christian conversation, and finds much to affect his heart in it; but he also delights at times to retire from all mankind, to converse with God in solitude. And this also has peculiar advantages for fixing his heart, and engaging his affections. True religion disposes persons to be much alone in solitary places for holy meditation and prayer… It is the nature of true grace, however it loves Christian society in its place, in a peculiar manner to delight in retirement, and secret converse with God.

Jonathan Edwards, The Banner of Truth Trust, 1974, v. 1, p. 311-312.

Richard Foster writes, “Solitude liberates us from all the inane chatter that is so characteristic of modern life.” As we practice solitude, the Spirit of God can use it to renew our hope, help us focus our lives on eternal purposes, reminding us of God’s sovereignty, greatness, and goodness. With the many pressures in our society, and especially the anxiety of a deeply divided nation as the election approaches, practicing the spiritual discipline of solitude reminds us who we are and whose we are, by placing us in the very presence of Christ.

It is in deep solitude that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love [others]…
Solitude and silence teach me to love [others] for what they are, not for what they say.

Thomas Merton, Through the Year with Thomas Merton: Daily Meditations from His Writings

Today, solitude must be an intentional choice. How are you practicing solitude combined with the Word of God, prayer, and meditation?

Hail, mildly pleasing solitude,
Companion of the wise and good;
But, from whose holy, piercing eye,
The herd of fools, and villains fly.
Oh! how I love with thee to walk,
And listen to thy whisper’d talk,
Which innocence, and truth imparts,
And melts the most obdurate hearts.

James Thomson, 1700 – 1725