And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. Mark 1:35

Solitude

Many years ago my church installed a state of the art phone system. The phone in the church library had a button on it that read “press to call master.” What did that mean? Was it a hotline to God? If we pressed it would St. Peter answer and put our call through to the Master? Oh that it could be that easy! Everywhere you go these days, people are busy with their cell phones, connecting to the internet, checking their schedules, talking, texting, or tweeting. We can now call anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds, but no one has ever invented a phone that will connect directly to God. The only way to connect to God is through prayer. Solitude and silence are the place of prayer, not being alone, but alone with God, not as speaking but listening for his voice. In this chatty society, silence has become a fearful and uncomfortable thing. Many experience silence, not as full and rich, but empty and hollow. Solitude prevents us from being overcome by our wordy world and it gives birth to creativity. As the old saying goes, “Speech is silver, but silence is golden.”

gracedeacon@gwi.net