Healthy Faith and the Coronavirus Crisis by Kristi Mair

Author:Kristi Mair
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781789742596
Publisher: IVP
Published: 2020-05-04T16:00:00+00:00

Finding God in the quiet place

The mystic Teresa of Ávila said, ‘Settle yourself in solitude and you will upon [God] in yourself.’[3] Many of us, though, are almost frightened of solitude, afraid perhaps of what we will feel or what we will discover about ourselves if we slow down and quieten ourselves enough to discover it. Others of us thrive on solitude, and only wish we could have more of it, to find a peace and a stillness that enables us simply to be. Some of the difference can perhaps be explained away by saying that some of us are extroverts and some introverts, but surely there’s more to it than that, and either way, both categories (and all those in the messy in-between place) need to discover what a holy solitude looks like, as opposed to simply being a time when we do nothing. Richard Foster describes the distinction like this:

Loneliness is inner emptiness. Solitude is inner fulfilment. Solitude is more a state of mind and heart than it is a place. There is a solitude of the heart that can be maintained at all times … if we possess inward solitude we do not fear being alone, for we know that we are not alone. Neither do we fear being with others, for they do not control us. In the midst of noise and confusion we are settled into a deep inner silence. Whether alone or among people, we always carry with us a portable sanctuary of the heart.[4]

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