We’ve been talking about the spiritual disciplines at the church I serve. You know, those historic practices of the Christian faith that monks, nuns, and your great-grandma Jean are famous for?
As part of that, we recently wrapped up a four-week sermon series on the historic Christian disciplines of solitude and silence. Contrary to popular belief, solitude and silence aren’t just disciplines for introverts and burned-out overachievers. Instead, they’re disciplines for all of us to cultivate intentional time and relationship with God. That’s because, according to one definition, solitude is “spending time alone with God,” and silence is “calming or stilling our souls in our time alone with God.”
In other words, solitude and silence are disciplines that help us experience an intentional encounter with God.
And so (especially since I knew I’d be preaching about them), I’ve been trying to practice these disciplines in my own life. Two days a week I wake up early, before anyone else in my house, make some coffee, and then sit in the dark and quiet, trying to spend time in solitude and silence with God.
I’ll be honest: the results are mixed.
Sometimes my practice of solitude and silence is amazing. That’s because I feel like I’m surrounded by the presence and peace of God, like he’s talking directly to me, and like I’m being filled up and more energized by him than the coffee I’m drinking.
Then there are, well, other times—times I don’t feel like anything is happening, times I fall back asleep, and times I wonder why I’m up so early and doing nothing in the dark by myself.
Yet one thing I’m learning about the disciplines of solitude and silence (and the other spiritual disciplines as well) is that the most important part of practicing them is simply showing up. Whether they always go the way I want them to, accomplish what I’m expecting them to accomplish, or feel the way I want them to feel, I’m realizing that I need to keep doing them, keep practicing them, and keep trusting that God is doing something with them, even when I don’t realize what it is.
And that, I’m realizing, is a discipline all its own. I’m starting to call it “the spiritual discipline of showing up.”
If you’d like to read more about the disciplines of solitude and silence, two resources I recommend are the chapters on each in John Mark Comer’s book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry and Adele Ahlberg Calhoun’s book The Spiritual Disciplines Handbook. Both offer accessible overviews for how these disciplines work and how normal, everyday Christians can use and practice them.
About the Author
Brandon Haan serves as the senior pastor at Ivanrest Church in Grandville, Mich. He lives in Grandville with his wife, Sarah, and their three children, Levi, Titus, and Audrey.