Encounter With Our Self
No
The desert teaches by taking away.
“Solitude is not a private therapeutic place. Rather, it is the place of conversion, the place where the old self dies and the new self is born, the place where the emergence of the new man and the new woman occurs…In solitude I get rid of my scaffolding. I have no friends to talk with, no telephone calls to make, no meetings to attend, no music to entertain, no books to distract, just me – naked, vulnerable, weak, sinful, deprived, broken – nothing. It is this nothingness that I have to face in my solitude, a nothingness so dreadful that everything in me wants to run to my friends, my work, my distractions…Solitude is the furnace of transformation…the place of the great struggle and the great encounter — the struggle against the compulsions of the false self, and the encounter with the loving God who offers Himself as the substance of the new self.” —Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart
The Place of Encounter
Encounter With Our
Encounter With Our
Encounter With Our
“The unloading of the unconscious.” —Father Thomas Keating
Feelings in Solitude
- Exhaustion
- Fear
- Sadness
- Anger
- Shame
[three points graphic]
In solitude, we encounter our
To get
Distractions
- Food
- Alcohol
- Work
- Church
- Shopping
- Travel
- Entertainment
- Social Media
- Internet
- Pornography
“[Spiritual bypassing is a] tendency to use spiritual ideas and practices to sidestep or avoid facing unresolved emotional issues, psychological wounds, and unfinished developmental tasks.” —John Welwood
“Then Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane…” —Matthew 26.36-39
“…and He said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ And He began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then He said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.’” —Matthew 26.36-39
“Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’” —Matthew 26.36-39
The Place of PAIN
Movements of the Soul
Jesus gives God His feeling.
“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death!”
Jesus gives God His desires.
“Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.”
Jesus gives God His trust.
“ et not as I will, but as You will.”
Give God our
Psalms of
In lament we both go down into our pain and we offer it up to God.Give God our
Happy – “I got what I wanted.”
Sad – “I didn’t get what I wanted.”
Anxious – “I might not get what I want.”
Angry – “Somebody stopped me from getting what I want.”Give God our
Go to the place of pain and meet God there.
Practice
Solitude:
Begin your day with a few minutes of solitude, noticing and naming your emotions with Jesus’s Gethsemane prayer. Find a quiet place in your home or in nature that is as distraction-free as possible. Begin to take long, slow breaths. With each inhale, prayerfully welcome the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Notice and name your feelings. Sit in those feelings. Pray Jesus’s Gethsemane prayer. Close your time with a simple prayer of gratitude.
Reach Exercise:
Go for a solitude walk in creation.
Recommended Reading:
Invitation to Solitude & Silence by Ruth Haley Barton, chapters 4-6.
Rule of Life Podcast, Solitude Episode 2
Spotify | Apple Youtube |
“Do not be afraid.” —Jesus