Advent, Solitude, and Reflection

References:
• LPTS President’s Blog
• Matthew 14:13
• 1 Kings 19:9-13 NAS
• Psalm 46 NAS

I read an interesting blog entry the other day by the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary President, Michael Jenkins, cited above. In the article, he talked about how Jesus would often seek a place of quiet rest and solitude. I found this article very interesting, especially with how things are in America today. We seem to be constantly rushing and on the go.
Although all people need time alone, some need more than others. Those of us who are introverts thrive on our ‘alone time.’ We need it to emotionally recharge, to process what we have learned and experienced, and to prepare ourselves for interacting with others. The stronger a person is as an introvert, or if one is a sensitive soul, the more alone time one will often need to ‘recharge.’ It is interesting, though, to note that there is a very big difference between just seeking solitude and ‘being quiet’ or ‘being still.’

Solitude is essentially being alone, by yourself. But, just because one is alone doesn’t mean that one is ‘being quiet.’ In our media drenched society, we have music, news, movies, all sorts of entertainment readily available, 24 hours a day, every day of the week. Many people have smart phones so that they can continuously monitor their Facebook page, their Instagram, their LinkedIn, or whatever social media that they use. Some people watch movie after movie on their smart phones or tablets, others listen to all sorts of music on Pandora or Slacker. It seems that there is noise all around us, doesn’t it?
Now, I will admit that I am listening to “The Gladiator” soundtrack while I am writing this blog entry. As I am work on writing or doing artwork, I find having some sort of classical music playing in the background very helpful. The same goes with reading, studying German, or something like that. Sometimes I will prefer to have it very quiet while I read or study, but usually I will want to some sort of background music.

However, my life is not like in the movies. When I am out for a walk, whether just to have fun and relax or because I am getting from point A to point B, I don’t have music playing in the background. Sometimes when I jog, I will have music playing, but not all the time. Especially if I am running on the road. But when I am out walking to decompress, to just think, or to enjoy all of God’s Creation, I love not having music playing. I can listen to the sound of the wind through the trees (or against the dunes if I am in the desert), the songs of the birds, etc. Not having the ‘background soundtrack’ enables me to enjoy things around me even more because I am not distracted by music.

The same is often true for when I do my devotions. I will often turn my music off when I do my devotions, have time of intense prayer, or something like that. There’s just something about making everything around quiet so that I can intently focus on what I am doing. Though this isn’t the case every single time, it is usually what I prefer to do. That way I can concentrate more on what I am reading, to drink it in, to contemplate its meaning.

Though I feel that this is a good way to approach reading God’s Word any time (in a quiet area without distractions), I believe that it is even more so during Advent and before Easter. Why’s that? Think about it… During Christmas, we are preparing ourselves for Christ’s birth, the “Word became flesh,” as John 1 puts it. We are to preparing ourselves for His first entrance into this world, knowing that He will come again. The fact that God lowered Himself to our level and came into the world as a fragile human being, is just mindboggling to me! But yet, out of His infinite love, He did that for me. And, being the foolish humans that we are, we still get distracted, look for what we want to find, or just get caught up in what drama is circling our life at this time.
When Jesus was born, all of Israel was under Roman oppression. The Jewish people know that God was going to send them a Savior, but their expectation was that God would send a mighty warrior. This warrior would lead Israel in rebellion against Rome, throw off the chains of tyranny, and Israel would be an independent nation again. Because of this kind of expectation, grounded at least partially because they were so focused on what was happening around them, that they totally missed (as a whole) that God was going into the world to redeem a fallen people.

When we allow music, news, interesting trivia or entertaining articles on the Internet, TV programs, or whatever, to be distractions to us, we miss out on important details. For example, if we are reading God’s Word while watching the news, are we really paying any attention to what God might be speaking to us about? If we are constantly going about our lives with background noise and not trying to quiet things down, how often do we miss little things? Little things like how a co-worker’s body language is speaking volumes of the pain they are carrying, or not noticing how a person is reacting to our words or actions, or even just the beautiful sounds of nature?

During this time of Advent, let us all be more purposeful in seeking some solitude, time alone. Time away from all that is distracting so that we can focus more on reading God’s Word, on praying for others, and in preparing our own hearts for remembering Christ’s birth. I know that it may be hard. Some of us have very, very hectic schedules. But yet, even just taking 5 minutes here and there to just turning things off and focus for a little while on God and His Word, I believe that it can work wonders in your life. I know it has in mine.