Tuesday 10 October 2017

When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. – Matthew 14:13


Today’s Scripture Reading (October 10, 2017): Matthew 14

“The whole conviction of my life now rests upon the belief that loneliness, far from being a rare and curious phenomenon, peculiar to myself and to a few other solitary men, is the central and inevitable fact of human existence.” (Tom Wolfe, American Author, and Journalist). I understand Wolfe’s words from a very experiential point of view. Every one of us spends time alone, and because it is a common experience, it is one that we need to come to terms with – to learn how to handle those moments when we are “all by ourselves.”

And that might be one of the fundamental differences between us as people. For some of us, which would include me and, maybe, solitary men like Tom Wolfe, we have come to the point of understanding with our loneliness. Even writing the words in that manner makes those alone times sound incredibly painful, but the reality is quite the reverse. For some of us, loneliness is incredibly energizing. We find strength in those moments when we are alone – and we need them to live healthily.

But that is not the only approach to loneliness. For some of my colleagues, time alone is painful. It is something to be avoided. Rather than finding a quiet corner in which to write, some of my friends need to find a busy coffee shop in which they can record their thoughts. Alone, space itself seems to crowd in on them, squeezing their thoughts to such an extent that they can no longer write them down on the page. Writing becomes a communal exercise, done amidst the noise and haste of the world in which we live. The noise, then, is not a distraction, as it can be for me, it is part of the energy that is needed to get the words out and onto the printed page.

However, beyond the difference to our natures, time spent alone is also incredibly necessary. How much time we need alone probably varies from person to person, but what does not vary is our need to spend some time alone – even in loneliness. It is only in those moments of solitude that we get to pause and evaluate the events of our lives, and it is in these moments that we begin to understand things like meaning and the powerful emotions that constantly invade our lives.

Even Jesus felt the need to get away alone. John was dead, killed by a reluctant king. Up until this point, the public attention of the movement had rested on John’s shoulders. But all of that was about to change. Jesus needed time to grieve the loss of his partner and to orient himself in the direction of the coming transformation of the ministry. The crowds that followed him were not going to allow him much time for this evaluation, but it was essential that Jesus have at least some time alone.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Luke 9

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